To the editor: The smartphone combined with social media is the greatest experiment in human psychology since the invention of religion. (“Los Angeles school kids, get off your damn phones! Trust me, you’ll thank us later,” Opinion, Sept. 22)
There has been much discussion among educators recently regarding the very real and significant social impacts of smartphones on children. However, it baffles me that I have read no mention of the use of these devices for cheating.
Several years ago, I was amazed when friend showed me he could solve an algebra or calculus problem in seconds with an app on his phone. All he had to do was take a photo of the problem.
With a tool like that, who needs to learn anything?
Jack Debes, Santa Monica
..
To the editor: I always imagined that teachers these days were having a hard time with students being on their phones, texting each other while in class and doing other things. That would be exasperating.
But I had not given much thought to what it might mean for the students themselves.
Columnist Robin Abcarian reports the observation that, without the presence of phones, more meals are being eaten in the cafeteria “because kids feel better about eating when they are not being recorded.”
That reality shocked me. Phones can be, and apparently are being, weaponized against fellow students. This kind of humiliation could be a nightmare scenario for many sensitive, self-conscious teens.
As if middle and high school stress wasn’t already challenging enough.
Laura Owen, Pacific Palisades
