“The teenagers’ gadget of choice, the iPod, has been banned by a Sydney private school because they lead to ‘social isolation.’ The principal of International Grammar School, Kerrie Murphy, said her decision to ban the palm-sized stereos, which can hold up to 10,000 songs, coincided with the international debate on how ‘people were not tuning into other people because they’re tuned into themselves.’ She was also worried that students using iPods could not hear teachers, that the iPods put stress on ears when played at high volumes and were a security risk. ‘They allow students to avoid communication with others and may lead to social isolation or escape from our community,’ she told parents in a letter last week,” Linda Doherty and Jordan Baker report for The Sydney Morning Herald.
“Mrs Murphy said yesterday that significant numbers of her Ultimo secondary school’s 500 students had shown up at the start of new year with iPods, presumably given to them as Christmas presents,” Doherty and Baker report. “‘I think iPods are fantastic, they’re brilliant pieces of technology but kids don’t need them at school,’ she said.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Banning is always nice, but what if the school had actually tried to incorporate the popular iPod into the curriculum instead? You know, like Duke University? Oh wait, that might have encouraged learning and increased participation instead of fostering resentment and also would have required creative thought by a school principal. Silly us!