U.S. Surgeon General wants warning labels for social media

[firefly_ris]

My daughter's high school in WNY has those over-the-door shoe storage things on each classroom door and students place their phones in one of the pockets on their way into class. They are allowed to check their messages between classes (5min) and at lunch and study hall.

 

[BrianL]

Social media started out a fun way to stay in touch with friends/relatives or classmates. Once those with dubious intentions found a way to use such sites to weaponize their posts and reach far larger numbers of people is when things went off the track.

Well, social media started as and still is a system to collect user data and sell it, mainly to adertisers. That was always it's primary concern. Remember, if a company is providing you a service for free, then you are the product being sold.

 

[HeatherC]

Just what we need…more government intervention in our lives since they are doing such a great job thus far.

It is a parents responsibility to monitor their children with social media. Simple as that. A warning won’t do squat.

 

[Toolulu22]

I heard about this as it is my state. I'm actually against this for the reason there are so many school shootings, the kids may need their phones for safety. There have been many times where they called in the active shooting. Or they were on the phone with the 911 operator who stayed with them online and helped keep them calm, hidden and quiet.

They want to ban Smartphones. Governor has no problem with flip phones. . It’s the access to flipflop, instapic and so on that she wants to limit.

Then there was the Uvalde shooting, where we KNOW kids were still alive in that room, begging for help over 911. And there have been times where the kids were able to call their parents during a shooting. Sometimes, it was the last time and last call the parents ever got. Same for 9/11, when the people in the towers were able to make one last call to their loved ones.

I think there should be a way to make the kids put away their phones and learn DISCIPLINE. Forced at first, then hopefully voluntarily staying off their phones later when they realize they can have a good time without the phone in their face.

Discipline is definitely lacking. Forcing, how? What consequences? Many students know appropriate phone behavior, but far too many don’t. Doesn’t help when it’s mom calling/texting in the middle of class. The issue definitely needs attention- whether or not the bill passes.

Taking away phones doesn't teach them that. It teaches forced deprivation that is externally created. And all they have to do is wait it out until the circumstances change and they get their phones again.

 

[Toolulu22]

I don’t necessarily see a problem with this either. I wonder if this type of ban is playing a part in the resurgence of flip phones? I can remember the days before smartphones, when all I could do was text and make phone calls, and that was enough to keep in touch with the people I needed to until I got home where other options were available. However, I have heard of so many school organizations requiring students to use apps for communication and calendars if they are involved in sports and other school sponsored organizations that it may be difficult to turn back the clock. They would have to be willing to backpedal on using apps for things like rescheduling practice times or locations if they ban smartphones in school.

Do schools even have a PA system for announcements anymore? (Flashing back to the movie Grease now . . .)

Schools do announcements via PA still, at least we do. They call into our rooms too. Any child who needs to, has access to school phones as well.

Our district provides Chromebooks for all students, so they complete assignments on them. Some work can only be done on the school Chromebook via student account access and not on other devices. School related apps are available and clubs/teachers who would like to use something new have to get the program approved (privacy issues must be addressed) and then it’s added to the list. Strong filters are in place for the usual social sites. We also have a program that allows the classroom teacher to see what everyone is doing on their device and options to freeze their screen, chat/redirect, or kick them out of a website.

Our governor did mention flip phones as a replacement for parents who needed their child to have a phone. At first it sounds funny, but maybe not such a bad idea. She’s also trying to put through legislation to deal with heat in our classrooms. A/C units were removed during Covid to reconfigure the ventilation system, so now we get to work in 90 degree plus rooms in Sept/Oct and- this week. Her legislation aims to address heat once a classroom gets into the 80’s. 82 and measures need to be taken to reduce heat, 88 and school closes. I expect this to pass and go into effect 9/2025. We’ll see about the phone ban, but I’m hoping for something to change.