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Schools That Ban Mobile Phones See Better Academic Results
HughPickens.com writes: Jamie Doward reports at The Guardian that according to a recent study in the UK, the effect of banning mobile phones from school premises adds up to the equivalent of an extra week's schooling over a pupil's academic year with the test scores of students aged 16 improved by 6.4% after schools banned mobile phones, "We found that not only did student achievement improve, but also that low-achieving and low-income students gained the most. We found the impact of banning phones for these students was equivalent to an additional hour a week in school, or to increasing the school year by five days." In the UK, more than 90% of teenagers own a mobile phone; in the US, just under three quarters have one. In a survey conducted in 2001, no school banned mobiles. By 2007, this had risen to 50%, and by 2012 some 98% of schools either did not allow phones on school premises or required them to be handed in at the beginning of the day. But some schools are starting to allow limited use of the devices. New York mayor Bill de Blasio has lifted a 10-year ban on phones on school premises, with the city's chancellor of schools stating that it would reduce inequality.
The research was carried out at Birmingham, London, Leicester and Manchester schools before and after bans were introduced (PDF). It factored in characteristics such as gender, eligibility for free school meals, special educational needs status and prior educational attainment. "Technological advancements are commonly viewed as increasing productivity," write Louis-Philippe Beland and Richard Murphy. "Modern technology is used in the classroom to engage students and improve performance. There are, however, potential drawbacks as well, as they could lead to distractions."
The research was carried out at Birmingham, London, Leicester and Manchester schools before and after bans were introduced (PDF). It factored in characteristics such as gender, eligibility for free school meals, special educational needs status and prior educational attainment. "Technological advancements are commonly viewed as increasing productivity," write Louis-Philippe Beland and Richard Murphy. "Modern technology is used in the classroom to engage students and improve performance. There are, however, potential drawbacks as well, as they could lead to distractions."
now get rid of the stupid ipads and chromebooks (as in, technology in technology classes only) and results will be even better.
Shocking
A brain is a terrible thing to waste... Mind? That's debatable.
As usual, don't trust journalists. :(
My first program:
Hell Segmentation fault
what??? What next? dictating that kids cant wear jordans only shoes from payless because of inequality??
Im all for banning phones because they are a distraction but lets stop with the social justice mmm'kay?
have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
Introducing noise making distractions to reduce intellectual inequality.
another interesting measurement equivalent brought to you by your friends at SlashDot
We might see a great deal of improvement, particularly for the underachieving ones.
Please do not read this sig. Thank you.
So you stopped allowing student to distract themselves and there grades went up. Of course you have to wonder why students don't have the discipline to focus with electronics in the classroom, and no matter what I say, people will get mad so meh.
If that's really what lifting the ban does, then I'm fine with it. I just don't see how allowing phones will accomplish this (ie - I have an iPhone 6 and you're stuck with a hand-me-down MicroTac).
Lower-income schools tend to have more security such as metal detectors and bag searches in NYC. This caused an odd business to pop into existence where students would pay private businesses (usually vans that stopped outside the schools in the mornings and afternoons) to store the phones during the day. Public schools in more affluent areas don't have these security measures, so students there could get away with just carrying the devices into the school. Keep in mind a lot of kids walk to school in NYC so the worse the neighborhood, the more you probably want your kid to have a phone to call home in case of emergency, and yet due to the increased school security and the blanket ban on cell phones, they are more likely to be the ones forced to either not do so or pay for storage during the day.
I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
Got a citation for this one? Sounds like a good way to lose your phone to a thief.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
Older than dirt is the idea of school uniforms. Which would effectively reduce the perception of inequality in a school.
You know, I don't think I would have minded a school uniform in my public school, if it was reasonably comfortable and didn't look heinous.
I don't think we should ban things due to "inequality", but being harassed about what you wear is something you get in places with a high degree of immaturity, such as high school and LA. And honestly, from the other side, there is envy from the have-nots for the people who have things. Due to social development of children and teens, it can be overly pronounced and highly distracting.
Of course, I am not sure how unbanning cell phones helps with "inequality". I'd think that telling Richie Rich with his iPhone 6 supersized to leave it at home would actually improve perceived equality, because the poor are less likely to have a phone, and much less likely to have a *good* one.
When I was a kid we weren't allowed to bring basketballs to school. Nor were we allowed to bring walkie-talkies. We couldn't bring treadmills to use during class. A distraction is a distraction. How can anyone be surprised that banning them improves academic performance. The only thing surprising is that they weren't banned a decade ago.
I often don't like the choices people make, but I like the fact that people make choices. That's why I'm a conservative.
Hence banning mobile phones may be not the cause of the better results. Correlation is not causation. Causation needs specific, strong supporting evidence.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
Then seriously have the phone locked up at the front office or something. What they should be doing is making the ability to store the phone during school hours more equal, rather than just giving in and allowing them to be carried during the day.
Mainly they said they banned phones, but technically any kind of electronic device was banned. It was the stupidest policy ever when near EVERY kid (it was a well to do area) had one in school. Nobody took them out in class...
Sounds to me like the policy was incredibly successful. The purpose of the policy was not to actually take away everyone's devices. The purpose of the policy was to prevent devices from becoming a distraction, and to give administrators and teachers recourse if a device posed a distraction. This works even if the device is somewhat concealed, like a music player connected to headphones going through the students clothing up to skin-colored wires to earbuds hidden behind hair- with this stated policy if the student was using the device in lieu of paying attention in class then the school could confiscate the device to remove that distraction from the student.
I went to high school just before the cell phone migrated its way into teenagers' hands. I still got to see my friends; we simply had to make plans when and were to meet up. I would even argue that my friends were better friends, because we actually did stuff together and had common interests, not an electronic means of connection requiring little to no effort to maintain that one could just play lip-service to. The cell phone is a convenient tool, but all-waking-day connectivity doesn't mean that things are actually better simply through having it.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
New York mayor Bill de Blasio has lifted a 10-year ban on phones on school premises
They were banned a decade ago. That's part of how they were able to do the study. It's in the summary. Have your phone on you?
You are rejecting the results of an empirical study because you don't like the conclusion. What "logic".
Watch this Heartland Institute video
school uniforms are actually worse for inequality on the grounds that the students need 2 entire wardrobes, one for school and one for outside of a school. It works for the conformity aspect, and it may hide inequality temporarily but its a cost burden that shouldnt have to be paid
have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
*duh*, or is it derp?
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
When I was a kid, we didn't even know what basketballs were. We used to have to throw severed heads through hoops, and let me tell you, it's tough to dribble a severed head. And instead of the "pick and roll" we had the "disembowel and roll". That's why nobody wanted to play defense.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Wait... there are actually schools out there that don't ban mobile phones?!?
While they're at it, why not allow them to bring an Xbox into the classroom?
trying to force every discussion on anything into a discussion on social justice is not only pointless, but it turns people off of your cause.
have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
Lucky bastard! You had hoops! We had to compound fracture our own arms in 4 places so we could simulate a hoop, and use our own faces as backboards. And that's the way we liked it!
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
Industry will vanish along with cellphone ban
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Businesses make $4M off NYC students by holding their cellphones during school NYC Plans To Lift Ban On Student Cellphones In Schools
I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
Then seriously have the phone locked up at the front office or something. What they should be doing is making the ability to store the phone during school hours more equal, rather than just giving in and allowing them to be carried during the day.
It will be up to each school to determine their own rules. If they don't, then a set of default rules will be used (phones put away during class, can be used during lunch, etc. It's in the article in TFA I believe).
I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
Um, they do have lockers in NYC don't they? Wouldn't that be logical place to store a phone?
Yes, but they are generally INSIDE the school, past the metal detectors. The old rule banned the phones on school grounds period. They were not allowed in the door.
I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
actually it has NOTHING to do with race... it has to do with a video of a woman screaming about her obamaphone. If you havent seen it maybe you should so you can stop with the faux outrage over non existing racism
have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
Heard of teachers? They are supposed to be in charge, and are the ones who should be calling ambulances, fire departments and police if needed. The kids should be focused on learning, not facebook.
If you're a zombie and you know it, bite your friend!
Too often kids are focused on their shoes, or fashion, or yes, their phone. Anything really that makes them seem imperceptibly better than their peers. In my opinion, schools would do well to switch to uniforms and keep phones out of class rooms. The less inconsequential nonsense they have to care about, the better.
Schools with administrators smart enough to ban smart phones tend to be in better school districts.
Yeah, if you look outside the USA, the schools that cane their students (for everything from not doing homework to being late for school) get very good results. If all you care about is performance on standardized tests then don't just ban the cell phones, bring back the cane. But I know some students in such school rather well - and to say that they aren't happy would be a massive understatement. It's not just random chance that the most economically successful Asian countries do so poorly on the World Happiness Reports.
are the lectures good or just reading the text book? if they are just reading then people will goof off is forced lectures.
Kids need to have phones in school,
I agree. Like at the front desk or something.
If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
no text.
Yes. I live in a low income school district and volunteer at the school and almost all of the students have mobile phones. In fact, as far as I can see, there appears to be an inverse relationship between income and cell phone proliferation. It might be that the latter contributes to the perpetuation of the former.
If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
... then people are actually suffering from 'degradation effect' after they've grown up
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
Right, because everybody would only have one set of clothes otherwise.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
We didn't bother with hoops because we never got in shooting range, on account of how steep the court was. Both ways.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
N/T
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
This. I could not really attend classes where the professor only read the book. Boring as hell.
Ah, forced lectures, good point. The only time I've had those was during teacher training, and they would circulate a list you'd sign. The natural solution was that as long as some of your friends were there, they could sign for you. That's a win-win if it makes the lecture better for those who actually care about it.
Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
Both ways? You had a full court!? And you couldn't be bothered to set up hoops to shoot from half-court? Dang, you're the most entitled of them all. You're all lucky to have a court - we had to play on the street shooting through the broken window of whatever car was being robbed at the time. When it came to picking teams, you picked the players that were best at dodging cars and bullets.
I was in HS from 1990-1994, and, having a pager or cell phone would yield these consequences:
1) Confiscation of device and collected into a school "evidence" bag
2) Detainment while the police arrives
3) K9 sweep of your locker and any "associates"
4) In school suspension for at least a week
But, apparantly, times have changed and having a cell phone or pager is no big deal. The original reason for their draconian response was that they thought you were a drug dealer.
They would also confiscate CD players, portable cassette players, and handheld radios if you were caught using them during class time; before/after school and lunch was allowed. The reason for that was it was deamed that those devices would be a distraction to the students and surrounding students in class.
trying to force every discussion on anything into a discussion on social justice is not only pointless, but it turns people off of your cause.
But it's pretty relevant in a story involving the disadvantages that poorer kids face at school, although no doubt it's their own fault for having stupid parents.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
That wouldn't be too surprising. Probably the same relationship to car accessories like rims and fancy sound systems.
During a lull at Maker Faire this weekend, and surfing slashdot on my phone, I see this article and point it out to an educator that had a booth near ours. He found it amusing I showed this on my mobile device, and he said article is true. His children may have a phone but he ignores calls from them when they get stumped on a exam question.
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