They're half-formed people who do often need their behavior controlled in some way. Some students or student bodies may be mature enough to be responsible for themselves, but not all.
There's a stark difference between setting boundaries and treating people like objects.
I've experienced both. Some schools are really good. The private K-12 religious school I went to treated kids like people and still set boundaries. The local public high school did the same. The public grade school was a horror show. College was particularly interesting. Most of the administration did not care about students as people. Everyone else did.
> There's a stark difference between setting boundaries and treating people like objects.
You need to talk to work with some high schoolers then. There is a large chunk of that population that the school is in their orbit. They casually treat people like objects. They don't just tune out, but actively disrupt anything going on, ruining the days of teachers, staff and students -- for sport.
Eldest is 10. No phones yet. We're getting them a dumb phone to share for certain situations, soon. They can get a smartphone when they can buy it and pay for the plan on their own. No taking it to school.
[EDIT] My main concern over the next few years is social pressure of the "you have no phone, so your family must be poor" sort. We've had a 2nd grader teased for being poor because she "only has one backpack". LOL. I have some uncharitable thoughts about those families.
Yes, I think that will be a challenging approach to take :) I do wish more people were as thoughtful about it as you are. Setting good phone & Internet habits is really, really hard for everybody, students & adults included. Hopefully setting some good examples early will help them with that later.
Heh, well, yeah, that's the plan anyway. We'll see if it survives "contact with the enemy", as the saying goes. I think years 12-15 are gonna be rough, but after that, like... if it matters that much to you, go get a job and pay for it? That seems totally reasonable to me. If they don't, guess it didn't matter that much after all. I figure if they're responsible enough to plan and get a job and save, they're ready for the phone—if not, they'd better grow in those ways, if they want one. I'm hoping this ends up being one of those Pro Gamer Moves where I force them to improve and learn something to get what they want, but who knows, may not work out.
