Why schools being allowed to search kids for iPods is stupid

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How can they damage your hearing? iPods actually can't, by law, go above a certain volume level for that very reason, and I'm sure other kids and/or the teacher would get annoyed with the music being audible outside of the headphones long before it even gets to that level.



I dunno. This used to be true, but these days everyone has iPods really, and people with other brands of MP3 players usually attract interest if nothing else, because it's a different thing others probably haven't seen before.

People do make comments about each other's music, and they can be both positive and negative, but I what I noticed in my school was that there were different groups of kids who seemed to have matching music tastes, or at least music tastes out of the norm, and those people actually made fun of those who liked the popular stuff, so it depends who you hang out with.

I don't think, however, any of this stuff alone will cause actual bullying. If it does, then the bully in question would have found another excuse to do it anyway.



You can get an iPod shuffle for just over £30, I'd say that's fairly cheap. If price concerns you, try eBay as well.

At my school, pretty much everyone in my year brought their phones in. Many were BlackBerries, which can be sold for about £200-£400 (depending on the model). But it was still very rare that they got stolen. I think, in the 4 years I was there, two or three phones were stolen in the school, that's it. And they were usually found again by the staff. And this is in London as well - a city where theft on the streets is stupidly high.



That's BS. So, what, if something's not meant to be there, that's justification for stealing it? And if it's true that something which isn't meant to be there will get kids thinking it's OK to steal it (which it isn't), then surely the solution is to allow them?



I don't get exactly what it is you're talking about here. Are you talking about someone not listening to directions because of the iPod? Because you don't do a whole lot of traveling at school except getting to and from the place, and it's safe to assume the child can remember their own way home if they do it everyday.

And how the hell can incorrectly using an iPod hurt me? Will pressing the wrong button release the flame thrower?



No it isn't. Cyber-bullying is done over the internet, and it's easy to track who did what on the internet. And not bringing the smartphone to school wouldn't stop the cyber-bullying anyway.

In fact, if anything, someone in your own school cyber-bullying you is better than normal bullying, because you have evidence on your phone of it happening - records of exactly what the bully has said to you, attached to a phone number or IP address which can be traced right back to the bastard.



They won't do that because the teachers would stop them. Headphones exist for a reason.



It's not just about blocking things out, music has an effect on our brains which improves concentration, see the study I linked to a few posts ago.

Last first: Still not buying that your study of music helping concentration is any more accurate than the opposing study.

Children (and adults) DO play bloody annoying bass-less crap everywhere you go, and they DO do it in classes, and the fact that a teacher has to stop them doing it IS a disruption to the class...Just like the teachers used to stop people doing spitballs and have to spend two out of five minutes doing it every ten.

You have an odd idea of what is "easy" to track on the internet, which gives me the impression that you're the kind of person who wholeheartedly believes his PC is totally secure when it isn't.

Incorrect use of an IPOD...Plenty of people have walked into traffic, trains and trams by paying more attention to their music player than their surroundings. Thus, incorrectly used, they can be dangerous. Children are very good at using things incorrectly. Is that any clearer? Its a variation on "playing with the radio" whilst driving.

Schools DO justify their own lack of concern over property destruction with "it wasn't supposed to be on school property" all the time.

And everyone does not "have an ipod, really." Try looking outside your limited circle.Also, I'm using IPOD in a generic sense here as well, and just because IPODs theoretically can't go loud enough to damage hearing, doesn't mean others can't. (And yes, I own an IPOD and I'm intimately familiar with what it can and can't do. Before that I owned generic MP3s, and before that a CD walkman, and before that a cassette walkman, and all the same problems applied. The only thing that changed was the size. Its easier to hide an IPOD.)

Fine, but I'm sure you know people who've said from their personal experience that music helps then concentrate, right? I know loads. Oh, and you have yet to show me any of these mythical opposing studies.



Yeah, those spitballs are also a problem, so I guess the answer is to ban paper from schools.



When did I say my PC was totally secure? Where does my PC even come into this? I know that absolutely nothing is completely secure, so why are you fooling yourself that it is?



The same can happen while you read a newspaper, so let's ban those too. And crossing roads has nothing to do with it anyway, we're talking about in school.



Oh, that's what you meant. Well, they could just as easily tell people they can bring things in at their own risk, loads of places do that. Hell, they could even make the parents sign disclaimers, there'd be no arguments then.



Well if you're concerned about what MP3 players can do, write to the companies that make them. I don't see how that factors into the school thing specifically though.

And do you know anyone who dosen't have any sort of music player at all?

And do you know anyone who dosen't have any sort of music player at all?