Interesting Links for 20-02-2024

[andrewducker]

1. Tory ban on phones in schools is a non-policy for a non-problem.

(tags:phones school conservatives politics )

2. AI Generated Videos Just Changed Forever

(tags:ai video impressive )

3. Are you anxious? Do you sleep badly? Then if you drink coffee or tea you should stop it.

(tags:anxiety coffee tea caffeine )

Comments

[simont]

#1: if you redacted "phones in schools" and just left a scribbled-out blob with no clue what the noun phrase was, then I'd probably still believe it on general principles. That seems to be more or less what Tories banning things is about.

[andrewducker]

Pretty much!

[lilysea]

Are you anxious? Do you sleep badly? Then if you drink coffee or tea you should stop it

I went off coffee for two or three months and it actually made me a lot MORE anxious when I had no caffeine. I started having panic attacks that only got better when I started drinking coffee again.

Also, caffeine really helps me have less frequent migraines and less severe migraines (I'm not talking about caffeine withdrawal headaches: caffeine does something to blood vessels that helps with migraines and caffeine is actually in lots of migraine medications.)

All bodies are different,

and for people who have

a) migraines and/or

b) ADHD

reaction to caffeine may be nonstandard

[ninetydegrees]

Very true. I don't have ADHD and am sensitive to caffeine so I can see the difference regarding sleep and anxiety but I also have migraines that only caffeine and analgesics can help with and caffeine is the factor that makes a real difference. (fun fact being that I also have headaches when I've slept poorly.)

[movingfinger]

It struck me immediately that the word "headache" does not appear anywhere in that Journal of Anecdata Emissions piece.

[andrewducker]

Absolutely. If you have migraines and/or ADHD then standard advice over caffeine very-much does not apply!

Bans on Phones in Schools

[dewline]

There are arguments in progress across Canada about this.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-school-cellphone-ban-1.6834914

https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2297982531584

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/nb-cell-phone-ban-principal-1.7117405

https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2304612931644

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-district-school-board-new-ce-1.7087265

Re: Bans on Phones in Schools

[andrewducker]

I can't see a good argument for allowing them during class.

Re: Bans on Phones in Schools

[bens_dad]

> I can't see a good argument for allowing them during class.

What is a phone ?

Can I use a calculator in Maths ?
Can I use a camera in Art or Design ?
Can I use a dictionary in English or a foreign language ?
Can I use a timer/stop-watch in Cookery or Physics or Athletics ?

I hope that schools are teaching students how to use all these things.
Oh they have one in their school bag (since school rules say they cannot have it in their pocket).

Ah. But they need to learn to use the equipment that will be allowed in the exam ?
... but industry wants them to be ready for the world of work, where they *will* have access to a phone (or be at a serious disadvantage) ?

But the most important skill they need to learn is how to leave it in a pocket and *not* doom-scroll, or play games, when bored.

Re: Bans on Phones in Schools

[andrewducker]

I think that the advantages of those things are outweighed by the distraction that they cause.

In specific cases you may want to allow access for specific purposes. But children are *not* good at avoiding distraction, and asking them to do so at age 11, with distraction machines in front of them, is not going to work at all.

I haven't used a phone for work, well, ever. I have a computer. I think I had a work phone when I was in India for a couple of weeks. Other than that, I do my work with my computer. Not sure what I'd use a phone for!

Re: Bans on Phones in Schools

[anef]

I am required to have a phone for a secure login ID. It is annoying. I mean, I have a mobile phone anyway, but it is annoying to have to find it when I want to start work.

Re: Bans on Phones in Schools

[magedragonfire]

A way some of the proposed bans in Canada would work is that phones would be allowed at the discretion of the teacher. If their teacher was having them do photography or look up word definitions/translations, sure, they could have their phones for that.

Of course, for the kids who don't have or can't afford a phone-like device, that might prove a difficulty.

I can't imagine a teacher who'd let their students have their phones out in math, though. Most kids I know would much rather be looking at memes or videos than working out combinatorics questions. :P Basic calculators are cheap and ubiquitous. (Graphing ones are not, admittedly, and I don't know if we've started covering them for grade 11s/12s who are in the classes that use them.)

[ninetydegrees]

1) The way the ban works in France is that students aren't allowed to use them or take them out within the school and they must be on silent. They can have them of course as a lot of parents rely on kids having phones although we warn them that this is a common source of theft, racket and online harrassment (another debate...). Another reason why we do this is that it's illegal to publish the image of person without their consent (and minors can't consent, only their parents can). Students who'd take pictures of their classmates or their teachers would be in serious trouble.

[andrewducker]

That makes perfect sense.

And kids should be allowed to relax in school without worrying about their pictures being taken!

[mountainkiss]

I just started drinking coffee after about three decades of not doing so, and am both less anxious and sleeping better. It's very odd.

[andrewducker]

There are a few things I know of that can cause this. Caffeine is useful for people with migraines, and definitely positive for people with ADHD (as it has a calming/relaxing effect on them).

I'm now very curious to know what's causing it with you!

[mountainkiss]

Well, arguably at least one cause of lower anxiety could be that I’m getting more done!

[channelpenguin]

I started again due to the reported positive effects on brain. Also that tea is kinda good to have after fruit to help reminerailse teeth (though I could have got mixed up there).

I don't notice any effects, but <i was never very caffeine-sensitive.

[lilysea]

Forgot to add: one of the other things I found in 2 or 3 months without coffee

is that I rely on coffee to have the oomph (physical energy, mental energy)

to leave the house.

No coffee? Leaving the house to eg go to the doctor's surgery or the supermarket isn't happening.

[andrewducker]

That doesn't surprise me - adapting to caffeine takes between 3 and 14 days, and so after that point your body expects there to be caffeine and struggles without it. (You are, of course, back to being how you would be without it, except it's delivered in doses, rather than being your bodies natural state).

[channelpenguin]

That seems odd to me - I would have expected an adaptation back to not needing caffeine. Certainly on the 3 month timescale. I have spent large amounts of my life without caffeine and it only takes me max 2 weeks to adapt / deadapt each time. I wonder what is going on with you that is different?

[lilysea]

I have a chronic physical illness that causes severe physical and mental exhaustion, so my

baseline is being mostly bedbound and needing a power wheelchair to leave the house.

So caffeine lets me spend energy I don't have, and then crash for days/weeks afterwards.

[channelpenguin]

Oh. Well yes. That really does explain it.

[teaotter]

Hm. I haven't had coffee in years, because it sets off my anxiety. But I drink tea all the time, so it's not like I'm off caffeine. I wonder how many days I'd have to abstain to see a reliable result?

[andrewducker]

About two weeks to get it entirely out of your system apparently.

[zz]

for someone who drinks 4-6 mugs of instant coffee a day, i'm surprised at not feeling any withdrawal from not having any for 2 days since i got food poisoning.

[andrewducker]

Wow! I got a headache for 4 days when I did that!

I hope your food poisoning is fucking off.