this post was submitted on 31 Aug 2025
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I can't give a lot of details without doxing myself, but I went to a school that restricted mobile phone usage a lot after an incident that students recorded and attracted a lot of negative attention from parents. After the crackdown, bad stuff kept happening (girls getting beaten by boyfriends, cruel bullying, kids yelling slurs and whatnot) but it just wasn't recorded and publicized. The school's security personnel would act like cops and confiscate your phone if you tried to record something like that.
On the other hand, you're totally right about capital wanting better access to children's data. And my anecdotal experience from going to university and using my phone during some lectures is that it definitely is an impediment to learning, I shouldn't do that stuff (obviously there is no reasonable argument for regulating this on an organizational basis since university students are adults).
This thing of being able to easily record incidents of violence is provocative because it lends a lot of credibility and stability to an individual or small group account of specific events. 1 video is worth 1000 witness narratives, especially if the witnesses are devalued and mistrusted in their social context.
We've all felt protected in a dangerous situation because the phone was with us. Even in the dark, out of earshot, it tethers us. "I am not alone." I am connected to my friends, family, the community at large. Whatever happens, there can be witnesses. Contrasting to CCTVs, you feel empowered because the device is physically in your hand, and under your control, rather than being an intrusive spy to catch you doing something wrong. It films from your point of view, not like god above.
But phones aren't going to solve partner violence or racism or bullying. They often facilitate. If people are routinely getting beat up in public and the only thing that tips to any sort of action is a video, I have to wonder what sort of action comes of it and how helpful it was. Since your description is that everything was focused on not getting negative attention to the staff rather than helping the students.
Yeah you're definitely right that letting students record the stuff wasn't gonna solve the problem, if anything it might make a lot of those situations worse because it would add cyberbullying into the equation. But the school 100% didn't care about the negative effects of phones on education, they just didn't want the bad PR from incidents getting recorded and shared.