LessWrong posts by zvi

“Childhood and Education #10: Behaviors” by Zvi

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Description

Edition #9, that School is Hell, turned out to hit quite the nerve.

Thus, I’m going to continue with the system of making the roundups have more focus in their themes, with this one being the opposite of school questions, except for the question of banning phones in schools which seemed to fit.

Table of Contents

  1. Metal Health.
  2. Coercion.
  3. Game Theoretically Sound Discipline.
  4. The Joy of Doing Nothing.
  5. ADHD Exists But So Do Boys.
  6. Sports Go Sports.
  7. On the Big Screen.
  8. Kids Media Is Often Anti-Capitalist Propaganda.
  9. Culture.
  10. Travel.
  11. Phone a Friend.
  12. The Case For Phones.
  13. Ban Cell Phones in Schools.
  14. A Sobering Thought.

Metal Health

Henry Shevlin: I asked a high school teacher friend about the biggest change in teens over the past decade. His answer was [...]

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Outline:

(00:28) Metal Health

(02:02) Coercion

(03:18) Game Theoretically Sound Discipline

(05:38) The Joy of Doing Nothing

(07:31) ADHD Exists But So Do Boys

(08:32) Sports Go Sports

(10:22) On the Big Screen

(12:41) Kids Media Is Often Anti-Capitalist Propaganda

(13:45) Culture

(15:23) Travel

(16:25) Phone a Friend

(20:11) The Case For Phones

(26:07) Ban Cell Phones in Schools

(28:41) A Sobering Thought

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First published:

June 23rd, 2025


Source:

https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/Ksr9PiFvSsjvGr2tN/childhood-and-education-10-behaviors

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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Images from the article:

Map showing status of statewide school cellphone bans across United States.
Graph showing time spent on activities by young adults, measuring meaningfulness and social interaction between 2010-2023. Bubble chart displays activities like gaming, socializing, and household tasks.
A Q&A format document showing questions about alternative communication methods and phone policies. The left column contains questions, while the right column shows responses from what appears to be a school administrator addressing various scenarios about phone use and communication restrictions.
Three graphs comparing socializing patterns between 2010 and 2023 across US, UK, Europe.</p><p>The graphs show hours spent alone and non-socializing percentages by age demographics.
Graph showing social media usage rates among U.S. teens by racial demographics.
Graph comparing life satisfaction by age in US, 2010 vs 2023, showing modeled and observed data.</p><p>The graphs illustrate how changes in socializing patterns correlate with reported wellbeing across different age groups, with two sets of curves comparing data from 2010 and 2023.
News article screenshot. The headline reads:

Subheading: "Some parents are choosing to forgo high-intensity camps and activities for their children in favor of weeks of unplanned time. Call it 'kid rotting.'"" style="max-width: 100%;" />

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