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Teachers: "Ban the Internet!"

theregister.co.uk — British teachers have launched an all out war against technology, with calls this week to ban YouTube and Wi-Fi. [They] demanded an inquiry into the technology, pointing to a range of maladies which could be down to radio waves cooking the brains of pupils and teachers alike.

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  • tehpwnerofn00bs, on 10/10/2007, -6/+45that would be: "Ban the Internets"
    • snypa, on 10/10/2007, -2/+12Or blocking the tubes.
      • sadilak, on 10/10/2007, -2/+0well, if the teachears are TILF , then I dont care about the internet. But, if they are useless losers, then talk to Mr Hat.
    • thailand1972, on 10/10/2007, -6/+1hahaha - I mean, *yawn*. Internet 'memes' suck.
    • mercano, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3You misspelled teh. "Ban teh Internets" or, preferably, "Ban teh Intrawebs."
      • bushawa, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3What I think you meant to say good sir is "Ban teh interwebs", My Intrawebs are already banned :(
      • wellyuk, on 10/10/2007, -1/+0Yeah.... not funny.
    • kmpr326, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1This is why America won the war =(
  • max420, on 10/10/2007, -5/+115Some people really are stupid... Like, genuinly stupid.
    • XISUPERMANIX, on 10/10/2007, -1/+75genuinely
      • nreynolds, on 10/10/2007, -5/+34someone's going to say "that's ironic" and some other *****'s gunna say "no it's not, no one but me knows what irony is" and then I'm gunna say "***** you, it totally is ironic"
        • cmiller1, on 10/10/2007, -0/+16The use of words expressing something other than their literal intention. Now that is irony!
          • WarpFox, on 10/10/2007, -2/+9It's like rain on your wedding day.
          • TrueXtremeIcon, on 10/10/2007, -0/+10More like a black fly in my Chardonnay
          • shaun1018, on 10/10/2007, -9/+6No it isn't.
            Rain on your wedding day is misfortunate and perhaps even slightly commical but it is not irony.
          • DangerMouse9, on 10/10/2007, -6/+1@shaun1018

            It's comical. There's a spell check while posting comments for Christ's sake. Or are you trying to make a funny by spelling words wrong on purpose?
          • Jimbob0i0, on 10/10/2007, -2/+0Nov 29th - please come quicker!
          • PjsPjs, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2like free shoes for a person with no feet?
      • doctechnical, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7Dugg up on the assumption you *meant* to do that.
    • happytron, on 10/10/2007, -1/+29When I'm calling someone stupid, I usually take extra special care not to have spelling errors. Just common sense, I guess.
    • senatorpjt, on 10/10/2007, -0/+11The worst part is when stupid people are given the responsibility of teaching others.
      • DangerMouse9, on 10/10/2007, -2/+5Even worse than that is when they're "given" the responsibility of leading others.
      • bradley0123, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1just look what happens
    • webcrumb, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Teachers are not trained to properly use ICT. Most ICT teachers used to teach other subjects; PE, chemistry, D&T.

      Despite IT being 20-odd years old the majority of people don't have a clue what it is or what it can be used for. In school IT is seen as an easy option. For properly trained teachers it's an uphill battle. A lot of minds and preconceptions have to be changed.
    • noch, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8Holy irony Batman!
    • maz2331, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4They aren't stupid at all. They recognize a threat to the absolute power and control that they currently wield in providing an education that's actually just politica indoctrination. The Internet throws an unbelievably huge monkey wrench right into the gears of that machine, and threatens to grind it to a screeching halt.
      Only those with a vested interest in hiding truth are afraid of any type of free and unfettered speech and communication. Not everything on the 'net is accurate, much is trash, but all is important. Anyone who wants to filter and control the net is no different from good old "book burners" of years past.
      Oh, as regards Wi-Fi, the power levels of these are measured in milliwatts. It's not ionizing radiation like X-Rays, it's 2.4 GHz radio waves, whose only possible effect is to cause heating when absorbed. Even just a meter away the field strength is negligible. You pick up as much or more RF power when exposed to the light of the sun for example.

  • LakeshoreBaby, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4Their fears are valid in a certain sense. But it isn't their fault they can't distinguish between DARPA and good technology. Just needs to be clarified and their anger directed properly.
    • doctechnical, on 10/10/2007, -2/+5"Their fears are valid in a certain sense."

      Yeah, in the tinfoil-hat sense.

      "Oh no! Radio waves are cooking our brains!"

      Bah.
      • NSMike, on 10/10/2007, -6/+2I don't know, this reaction seems to validate their theory...
    • BESTenemy, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Allowing kids to do what they want? God forbid! School is a place of brainwashing! Absolutely no entertainment should be permitted! People should only enjoy luxuries of life when they're old and miserable.
  • macguy815, on 10/10/2007, -1/+25My school already bans youtube.

    But not google video, go figure?
    • dgblackout, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5try liveleak on a school network, it's amazing what gets past.
    • shaun1018, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3Use a Proxy.
    • aflaks, on 10/10/2007, -2/+8"Hey, Teacher, Leave those kids alone!"
    • zwaldowski, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Yeah, my school can be dim about technology at times. Don't understand the problem? Don't like it? Blocked.

      However, if you really want to get to something, ask your teacher. My school lets teachers temporarily unblock a site, e.g. YouTube.
      • kuzotz, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1The highschool I graduated from had teachers that has engineering degrees so many were teaching as part-time extra income job. Anyway they knew a lot aobut the technologies, and so they didn't just do a simple block. Of course they blocked all of the porn, but that was about it. Now I head that any domain that doesn't end in a .edu is blocked except for google. I don't know I'm a sophomore in college now. So it isn't my problem.
    • mesmeriffic, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3My school didn't allow Flash player to be installed.
      *waves fist*
  • DeskFlyer, on 10/10/2007, -0/+19Just delete it, duh.
  • polymath22, on 10/10/2007, -8/+32I think teachers see the "writing on the wall".
    They know that the education model of the future will be much more flexible and "students-unique-interests driven", where the student is in the drivers seat of his own education, but with some 'guide-rails' shaped by tutors and a buffet style syllabus that includes social network (web 2.0) style competition among the educational media/ materials.
    Show the kids a few things, like google, wikipedia, youtube, digg, etc. and turn them loose.
    i feel a mind grows best when it is being "pulled into" a subject rather than "pushed into" it.
    • webcrumb, on 10/10/2007, -3/+19Tried it. Doesn't work. Show them YouTube and Google Video and they spend the lesson watching Family Guy. Then they complain the mouse doesn't work.
      • blast_flame, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4That's because school has already taught them that learning isn't fun. Thank god I watch some documentaries when I was 5.
        • kuzotz, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2that's pretty much it. School nowadays even during the 90s just teaches you to regurgitate information(which to an extent my generation in college right now literally thinks that is how a person should learn and does learn when this is far from the truth.). The problems with doing education this way is that it is repetitive. It is literally like factory work. You do a lot of pointless busy work. You want to know how Plato taught? Discussions, and interest, and free forums.. Education isn't like that anymore thus students don't get that drive to learn. Hell not even in college. All college is right now is to find the easiest way to graduate, and get a high paying job. There are less, and less creative people with innovative ideas by the day, and it shows a grim future in the US atleast. Seeing that corporations own everything already, we pay for their products, and then we support them by giving them our tax dollars. Thus we pay them through the ass twice. Then people seem to think we are doing a fair exchange of services which is ***** from what I can see.
        • jedikv, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Not all kids watch documentaries.
        • kuzotz, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1my mom sure as hell made my ass sit down and watch some, and watch the news, and watch other things. My god I could onyl play video games for 30 minutes a week, and watch tv for an hour a week.
    • bIuebonics, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3and then you came back to the real world...
    • Nick22, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Helps if the person is actually interested in looking up stuff, learning things etc. I know that for at me atleast, I have learned a ton from the internet. Digg, youtube, google video, wikipedia etc. have all taught me lots, and iv learned new skills like programming :)
    • apophisitis, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1All kids want to do is have fun.
      But, on the bright side, great minds flourish in the company of information. But would you learn about functional analysis if everyone was playing Quake?
  • daking89, on 10/10/2007, -3/+20teachers are living in the past
    • dgblackout, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5there isn't guidelines nor training for adapting current technology into the classroom environment, i blame the education system and to a lesser extent the speed of technological advances, as shelling out multiple millions on tech, only for it to become obsolete when you can get books that will last longer for the same kind of money.

      it's a problem with funding.
      • schoate09, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2aren't.
        • DangerMouse9, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1may as well correct his lack of proper capitalization as well and say I not i.
          • noahhoward, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1While we're all being pedantic, I may as well correct your lack of proper capitalisation and say 'May', not 'may'.
      • doctechnical, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5"it's a problem with funding"

        No. No it isn't. We're spending far more per pupil (in the USA) than we ever have, and still we're turning out people that can't construct a coherent sentence, let alone use the Shift key correctly.

        Give the tax dollars to the parents as vouchers, let the consumers decide where to send their kids, and just watch how quickly things will turn around. Competition is a wonderful thing.
        • Stormflux, on 10/10/2007, -1/+0We do need to improve education, but that plan sounds dangerously close to something Bush might think up. We all know how his plans turn out...
        • TLAKABM, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I was listening to a teacher on the radio in Australia who went to the United States (it was a awhile ago, it *might* have been Britain) who said that teachers spend an atrocious amount of time coaching their students to do well on tests that apparently determined the school's funding, rather than actually teaching them anything. The curriculum was apparently much smaller due to this wasted time.

          The point is, competition will inevitably lead to schools training their kids to do well on whatever test determines their status. It will become entirely superficial and not benefit the kids at all.
          • doctechnical, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1So toss the idiotic "No child left behind/No child gets ahead" tests as well. Let the *parents* decide what makes a good school. Perhaps it's SAT scores, perhaps the arts programs, perhaps the uniforms, who cares?
        • zwaldowski, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1@TLAKABM: Yup. That's how it is.
        • noahhoward, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1It isn't funding. Our schools don't educate students, they show them how to regurgitate facts in multiple choice format.
        • kuzotz, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1that only works when teachers can get their asses fired. I say we screw everything, and have nothing, but Charter schools.

      • zwaldowski, on 10/10/2007, -1/+0Books become obsolete quickly. The *brand new* set of social studies books at my school have nothing to do with the past eight years.
        • DangerMouse9, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1We're all in denial about the happenings of the last seven years.
        • doctechnical, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1*Some* books may go obsolete quickly, most do not. I was taught from books decades old now, and I'm not aware of any startling new discoveries about the multiplication table that I've missed out on. Have they repealed Newton's Laws?

          My point being if you've got a significant number of kids graduating high school who can't make change without a calculator or don't know how a light bulb works, the problem ain't with the books.
    • Jaxxex, on 10/10/2007, -2/+5the teachers are living in the past and,
      its the system not adapting to the times that is causing the problems ...
      most teachers are like any other government employees in that they only work from a to b and need training to get to c ... do they really think that the rest of us got training on "how to use the intranet" most teachers are teaching because they can't survive in the real world
      • DangerMouse9, on 10/10/2007, -4/+2And yet, if it weren't for teacher's you'd still have the education of a five year old. Do you think you could handle 30+ screaming kids? Just because you've mastered the "innerwobs" doesn't mean those that haven't can't survive in the real world. I'd really like to see you do their job.

        Better yet, go get your teaching degree and do their job and integrate all your "fan-tabulous" ideas of how you'd use technology to help them learn. It's easy to sit back with cheet-o crumbs covering your "Worst Episode Evar" shirt (because your "1 4M 50 1337" shirt is in the pile of laundry for your mom to do) and talk about what you'd do differently, than it is to get off your fat, flabby ass and go do it.

        Then again, I guess you prefer to live in a fantasy land where you get to make out with Princess Peach and Lara Croft ever night.
        • zwaldowski, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Opened Digg on the wrong side of your laptop, have we?

          I agree with your point, but personal attacks aren't the way to do it. Although, Jaxxex could learn to use the shift key.
          • DangerMouse9, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Nope, I'm just an ***** with a cynical point of view and call people on their hypocrisies when they'd prefer to ignore them.
          • kuzotz, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1yea you were justified to call him on his BS of saying most teachers try to escape the real world. My god what a load of bull. Its like those digg users who think that the only reason why the south isn't being rebuilt is because people are lazy. I mean sure you have whole towns destroyed with no way of rebuilding due to lack of funds. Lets forget that. Let us forget that this could happen to us. Let us forget it all...
    • lordmetroid, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5Teachers are bureaucrats(Working for the state)... By definition they are stuck in time.
      • doctechnical, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3Yes, and bureaucracies exist for the primary purpose of perpetuating themselves. That's the problem in a nutshell. Your kids are being taught by the same sort of people that work at the DMV.
  • bryano, on 10/10/2007, -1/+21Who the hell are the Professional Association of Teachers?
    Judging from their website, they consist of : regular teachers, nursery school 'teachers', nannies, as well as education support staff (bursar, administrator, technician, school nurse etc) - some of these people aren't even teachers! In total, they have only 35,000 members, in contrast to the National Union of Teachers, which comprises of 250,000 members. I don't think anyone really needs to give a crap about these people.
    • cromagnone, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6Yeah, they're virtually noone. The PAT is certainly not reflective of teachers over here; they're a trades union for anyone involved in education in Britain, not just teachers. There have been a few scare stories this month in various right-ing/old people's tabloids (read: The Daily Mail) about wi-fi and happy slapping videos on YouTube: it's summer, nothing else is happening - and the PAT have quite a long track record of jumping on bandwagons for publicity. This isn't really a big deal.
    • fredosauz, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4ironic that they have a website?
      • DangerMouse9, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Sadly, you can't access it via Wi-Fi.
  • Virak, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5These people don't have anything to worry about; their brains are already thoroughly cooked.
  • tnatharik, on 10/10/2007, -1/+45The internet is like one of the elements, e.g. water , land. YOU CAN'T ban it.
    • 1iProd, on 10/10/2007, -1/+16Wait, does that mean that internet could have been a power to call Captain Planet? NICE
      • NinjaBoy, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Hey is that ted turner
        //Robot chicken
        • nicksauce, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Dugg for robot chicken reference
          • DangerMouse9, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Dugg because you got dugg down for your comment.
      • blast_flame, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Nope, captain technology oh the other hand...

        "Internet!"
        "Electricity"
        "Science!"
        "Logic!"
        "Inteligence!"

        "Go Technology!"

        "By your powers combined, I am Captain technology!"

        Captain technology, he's our hero
        Gonna take morons down to zero

        He's our powers magnified
        And he's fighting on humanity's side

        Captain technology, he's our hero
        Gonna take morons down to zero

        Gonna help him put asunder
        bureaucrats who like to regulate and tax

        "You'll pay for this Captain technology!"

        We're the libertarian transhumanists
        You can be one too
        'Cause saving our freedom is the thing to do!

        Screw the trees,
        They're better as chairs!

        "The Power is Yours!"
        ...Now that's someone I could get behind.
  • drummerbrother, on 10/10/2007, -4/+6Ban the internets? Nooo. Where would we be without our series of tubes?
  • caponumen, on 10/10/2007, -19/+4See Briton, thousands of years of inbreeding on that little island have paid off......
    • JustFender, on 10/10/2007, -5/+7its Britain, Britons are the people from Britain

      and if your american remember you probably came from Britain so your calling yourself inbred, thought i'd point those out, have a nice day
      • dgblackout, on 10/10/2007, -3/+10I like how you flamed that guy for using the word "Briton" when you used "your" instead of "you're".
    • Azimuth1, on 10/10/2007, -2/+16Why is it that any article about events occurring in any country other than the US on Digg always prompts Americans to insult that entire country?
      • alexforcefive, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2Because all americans are retarded!
      • iticu, on 10/10/2007, -2/+0They're still in denial.
      • MaynardJK, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4And you NEVER see it the other way around.

        /sarcasm
      • bIuebonics, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Why is it that any article about events occurring in the US on Digg always prompts people to insult the entire country? it's called a joke, learn to take it...
  • luke16, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Well my college has just set-up their new wifi which is accessble to anyone...
    • edwartica, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Wow, about time! I thougt most colleges already had wifi like five years ago. Hell, even the crappy State U I went to had wifi!
    • jedikv, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1anyone??? wohoo free bandwidths to dload some warez
  • str3ama, on 10/10/2007, -5/+13ahhh you want to ban something, why not ban Shakesphere.... I don't know how that became the staple books of choice for English classes (I'm certain they still use it).. It adds nothing special that any other book couldn't provide, I mean replace it with something better like Orwell's 1984 or maybe Animal Farm..at least kids will learn about how society really works, rather then some sugar-coated archaic story of starcrossed lovers, or medieval retaliation.
    • dgblackout, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4if they replaced it with something like that, it'd ruin those books for millions by over analysis.
      i'm glad they haven't.
    • uzytkownik, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1I'd not like to argue but IMHO you cannot say you know the americoeuropean culture without knowing both. (Have you ever met with therm problem-based Sheakspear's plays?)
    • Schmidtopolis, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1I had to read Animal Farm in high school, and hated it. I didn't see it as allegorical, or even decent, because I was forced to read it, and I didn't want to... Having re-read it a couple years back, I fell it is excellent, but making kids read books in school ruins those books. Since no one reads Shakespeare anyways, it's good to teach it in school. I wonder if Thompson and Bukowski would still feel the same if I HAD to read them in high school.
      • edwartica, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1On the flip side, I was forced to read many a books in high school that I didn't want to read, and I am really glad I did! I've re-read several of them.

        And MANY people read Shakespeare who aren't being forced to read it. Hell, just the other night I cracked open "The taming of the shrew" just for ***** and giggles.
    • Jimbob0i0, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0We covered Animal Farm in school..... that and Lord of the Flies and Macbeth.
      All were overanalysed - took many years before I could read them for enjoyment again ;)

      Seriously though before anyone is allowed to vote I wish we could require them to read (or at least watch adaptions - hey I'm trying ot be semi-realistic here) Animal Farm, 1984, Brave New World and V for Vendetta
      • edwartica, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Sounds like you had a terrible English Teacher!
      • jedikv, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1V Vedetta the movie? That completely destroyed what the graphic novel did so right.
      • kuzotz, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I never got the change to read Animal Farm. I'll check it out.

        We did a project back when I was in highschool on George Owell's 1984. Also on a book known as Fahrenheit 451.
    • bIuebonics, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1iambic pentameter... IAMBIC PENTAMETER!!!
  • JustFender, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1they can ban away, we always find away around their bans, especially when the it guys keep downloaded music and videos on the network for us to watch hahaha corruption can be good
  • dukeeeey, on 10/10/2007, -1/+15Ban teachers, that'll teach them.
  • icsbase, on 10/10/2007, -2/+0Man, teachers are on ice or dont know the benefits of the internet.
  • HeatherH88, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7For anyone over the age of about 12, this is just a challenge to "bring down the man". The kids will work their way around the problem, as we always have. Heaven forbid we should train children to use technology in a world that thrives upon it.
    • DangerMouse9, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1Why don't you go get a degree from University of Phoenix Online and see if you can get a decent job before someone that graduated from a real university can. Heaven forbid you should get your degree using technology the world thrives upon, instead of going the proven method.
      • kuzotz, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1it isn't because phoenix online isn't proven. It's because companies hold monopolies and go to "elite" universities to hire people before going to state universities. Then HBCU's, and then they lastly look at online courses. IF they even bother.

        ITs all about connections and money to get a job, not credentials.Not even merit. Atleast in the US.
  • Irfit, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Er..good luck with that
    • Detergent, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Actually the security systems in elementary schools are mostly pretty crappy, and I've seen some kids work their way against banned websites, or find the file with every user name... Too bad that was only like 1 or 2 of them. Which can show that there is still hope... sort of.
  • scabbers, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Just use cables. Block Youtube. Let's not get carried away with like, sensational ***** headlines... on the internet.
  • akf2000, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4Buried as inaccurate, but I guess that's what it takes for it to be on the front page.
    • deadmann, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1I don't know what this ***** article is about. There is more meaning in the title than the whole damn article.
  • djmadness, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Wow. I didn't know Elton John was such an influence
    • PurpleDingo, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Stole my damn words. It's only a matter of time till the armies of Gates start sieging Buckingham until they hand over Elton.
  • iRoy, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5Students: "LOL!"
    • DangerMouse9, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2I think if you use internet chat acronyms in normal everyday speech then you should be banned from the web. Seriously, who the ***** says "LOL" or some variant instead of actually laughing?
      • Jimbob0i0, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0I've actually done this before....
        Then I realised what I had done and was mortified.....
        Given the crowd I was in wasn't too bad though - waiting for the midnight sales of WOW:TBC....
      • bIuebonics, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3i say lol all the time. lol, while standing for laughing out loud, rarely ever gets used in situations that induce actual laughing. seriously, if people actually laughed as much as they use lol online, i'd have them checked for mental instability. essentially, if you find a problem with using internet chat acronyms in everyday speech an issue, then it is you who should be banned. the internet in general was a much better place before it went "mainstream" and you douche bags came along to ruin it for everyone. sure, we had trolls, but we had trolls that loled along with us.
    • edwartica, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0I say BRB, but mainly to annoy my girlfriend.
      • bIuebonics, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1o_O but brb is a syllable equivalent of be right back... rofl i can understand. you turn 6 syllables into 2, but unless you pronounce brb as "berb" then you're not saving yourself anything..
        • edwartica, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0wow, I never thought about that. But like I said, the real reason is to get my girlfriend to roll her eyes at me, lol.
  • superfusion, on 10/10/2007, -0/+22Oh Christ ... I've been doing screen shots of the Internet since this story broke, but I'm nowhere near finished!
  • awtripp, on 10/10/2007, -1/+12we don't need no education! teacher leave them internets alone!
    • Sithlrd, on 10/10/2007, -0/+11Just another brick in the firewall
      • edwartica, on 10/10/2007, -2/+0Maybe we shoukd ship these teachers to the dark side of the moon.
        • jedikv, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1err no don't work
        • edwartica, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0yeah well, I had to try...and my typo didn't help matters, hehe!
  • Nutmegan, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1It's a good idea. If they ban the Internet, everyone will go back to video games.
    • shaun1018, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1and just how will our MMORPGs work?
      • jedikv, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Get lots of friends, some dice and figues a rule book and cancel any future plans.
  • thcobbs, on 10/10/2007, -4/+8Internet SHOULD be banned in schools except where the class is about computers/technology. It serves not practical purpose in a regular classroom.

    A good teacher can do so much more for a pupil in damn near every subject.
    • willcoll, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5agreed, I believe cell phones and internet should be banned with the exception of computer labs.
    • mashw, on 10/10/2007, -2/+5The internet is such an amazing tool and you want it banned? Moderated and limited maybe but banned? Don't be so ***** stupid. Who the hell are you to decide what is a good source of information, ALL sources of information are good. Kids need to be taught how to think and digest information so they can ignore the crap. ***** luddites.
      • DangerMouse9, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Yeah, why prevent assholes from posting on digg and not paying attention to what's going on in the classroom. How to research something in a book? ***** that, that's what the Internet is for. Why should I look something up in the encyclopedia when I can go to Jimmy's Blog and get the same information.
        /sarcasm

        I find it hilarious that you want to teach kids to digest information so they can ignore the crap and then claim (I gathered this by what you are implying in what you said) that the Internet is free from crap and misinformation. ***** n00b.
      • doctechnical, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3"Who the hell are you to decide what is a good source of information, ALL sources of information are good."

        Including the Bible. Which is why it should be in every school. Right?

        Sorry, couldn't resist.
        • cloudyprison, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Hell yah! I'm dieing to learn how they stuffed all those animals into a boat together and kept them from killing each other.
        • 30thElement, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1One of my government teachers had several copies of all the major religious text. The Qur'an, Bible, many Buddhist and Hindu readings, and Torah/Talmud.
        • djpants428, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0The library at the school I work for has several copies of the Bible, in the Mythology section. I'm pretty sure this would be common, at least at the high school level.
        • bIuebonics, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1i've had to read passages of the bible for a humanities class. there definitely is a place for the bible in the classroom: mythological analysis.
    • RevEng, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1Good teachers are few and far between. I started using the internet back when dialup first became popular, and believe me, I was able to learn so much more from it than from teachers. Teachers follow their lesson plans and teach what they've been told to teach. Some even do a good job of it. But in the end, if a student wants to learn something that isn't mandated by a curriculum, they have to search it out for themselves. Why not use the world's biggest, fastest library?
      • duality, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Many teachers realize that a great many of their students are only there in the classrooms because they have to be. However, a genuinely good teacher will recognize the students that actually want to learn. Outside of class, I frequently had one-on-one conversations with good teachers concerning their subjects of choice. Their teaching style was dramatically different than when they were in the front of a crowded classroom. Most of the time, they would move more quickly and speak with more enthusiasm, especially since I made it a point to provide strong feedback for them. The moral of this story is this: good teachers will always notice good students, and will often go the extra mile for them.
    • bIuebonics, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1i've played with enough physics simulations to know that you're full of ***** thcobbs. while the simulations are never a replacement for the experiments, they're a valuable tool for the less mentally inclined students to get a grasp on what a formula means in real world implications. many people can easily understand simple concepts like multidimensional spatial movement being broken down into single dimension vectors and analyzed, but for those who don't get it right away, a simulation demonstrating such things in which they can provide various inputs and see how they affect the final results is an invaluable tool. only someone completely ignorant about what's available or someone just looking to cause a ruckus would say that the internet should be banned from all classes except those dealing with computers/technology.
      • thcobbs, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Well, that's a practical application of the TOOL that is a computer. And in that case it's extremely valuable.

        But what does that have to do with banning the internet?
  • LordSkippy, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6Modern Luddites
  • coyote1284, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Neural Attenuation Syndrome (AKA the Black Shakes) is a problem in the UK? /obscure?
  • uzytkownik, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1> pointing to a range of maladies which could be down to radio waves cooking the brains of pupils and teachers alike.

    Can I ask to compare it to what cames from space and which is emitted(ok - o waves but fields) by the cables and so on? I spend nearly 100% of time being within WiFi Hotspot and I've never met this.
  • CaptainNem0, on 10/10/2007, -9/+1Hurray for Big Brother Britain. What are you people doing over there!?!
    • DangerMouse9, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Being free from all the maladies that are plaguing the US currently.
    • JohnP, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Were too busy being intelligent enough to spot a satirical article about moany teachers...
  • PawFox, on 10/10/2007, -4/+1It's more the fact that british teachers can't teach for ***** - They end up crying at the end of the day due to the class pissing about. I got an F in maths because of that.
    • thailand1972, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5"I got an F in maths because of that."

      Yeah, right.
    • tizz66, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6People like you are the problem, dick. You failed maths because you were a troublemaking *****, no other reason.
      • PawFox, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Me a trouble making *****? No not really would a trouble making ***** make effort to construct understandable sentence? - Since Year 7 to Year 10 I have the same ***** teacher for maths and I was put in set 5 (lowest class set for school). And you can't say you've been through school and not had a teacher who can't be ***** to teach or can't handle the class? And if I was such a "troublemaking *****" how come my other grades came out fine?
        • edwartica, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Learn to use a comma! Holy *****, you have the worst punctuation ever!
        • kuzotz, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Yea, I agree. His grammar is horrible. Now hear me out. This is coming from an American. An African American. Seeing that we get labeled as being stupid, or having dog hair.
    • bIuebonics, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2you received an f in math because you didn't put in the effort. grade school level math isn't anything most people couldn't teach themselves. to get an f when you had a book available lays the blame solely on yourself. if you don't understand the material directly from reading it, it's why they give examples and a multitude of problems directly based off of those examples to do for work in the book. sure, if you're not inclined towards mathematics, a poor teacher may do nothing to promote an interest in the subject, but the grade you received comes down to your own effort. luckily for me i could sleep through pre-calc in high school and, even though we had a horrible teacher, ace all my tests, unlike the other students who had to put forth an effort, but you know what? despite the horrible teacher who couldn't explain what a logarithm is to save her life, they all passed.
  • JohnnyXmas, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7Meh. I already beat The Internet anyway. The last boss wasn't THAT hard.
  • AlexBellisBrown, on 10/10/2007, -1/+0Do we really need another reason to hate school?
  • kelchm, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Reminds me a lot of this: http://www.fat-pie.com/thechildthatsmeltfunny.htm
  • Cerialthriller, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3my sexy teacher was more of a distraction then the internets. Instead of studying and doing my homework when i got home i was wanking thinking about the nice cleavage shots from the day.
    • edwartica, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0One week in US history class we had a sub. Instead of the old man who usually taught, we had a twentysomething cutie pie.
      Yeah, I got better grades that week than any other week that year.
  • Pixelante, on 10/10/2007, -8/+4Oh man. That Bliar boy really cut off the Brits' balls for good, didn't he. To think that once Brits stared down Hitler's nostrils and spat into them. You wouldn't tell now, seeing how they turned into a bunch of cowards.

    It must be terrible being a brit. Trembling in their homes, ***** their pants, only daring to step where a CCTV camera can Watch and Protect them. They banned guns, because they were scared to death. They are banning knives, because they're scared to death. Now they're even banning hooded jackets. Really, wear a hood near a brit and he will ***** his pants and screech BAN IT BAN IT BAN IT! WAAAAAAH!

    I truly feel sorry for brits. It must be terrible being them. I'm glad I'm not an all-fearing, pant-***** limey porridge eater. I'd kill myself if I were one.
    • bumblefoot, on 10/10/2007, -3/+4i feel sorry for all you Americans who get their information about the rest of the planet from websites like rawstory,

      we banned guns because of a school shooting and guess what

      gun crime is on the decrease and we've never had another school shooting, sure criminals can obtain a gun if they wanted but the majority of them still use knives because they're a damn sight easier to get hold off AND if you get caught with one the punishment is more lenient,
      knives over 4 inches long, butterfly knives and flick knives are illegal and that's alright, but anything upto 4 inches is perfectly legal,
      the cctv camera's in the uk are appalling, you would need to spend 6 months with photoshop to clear the images up enough to make out any details on each frame,
      and im wearing a hooded jacket as we speak and i bought it the other day so i dont think they are banned either...

      so yeah, try getting out of your parents basement from time to time and actually make sure you know what your talking about and not regurgitating some FUD that you read on a website
      • Pixelante, on 10/10/2007, -6/+3Who tell you I'm an American? I am not.

        While you are clearly a limey. How does it feel to be a coward, living in bigbrotherland, cowardly limey? Why don't you want to ban the internet? No internet = no internet-related crimes. And you could ban cars too, think of the lives that could be saved. Wouldn't be a big loss, it's not like you have a national car industry to speak of anymore. You're not Italy or Germany.

        Are you scared of the Euro too? Is that why you didn't want to let the Pound go? Have you thought how much you hurt poor Bliar?

        Gun crime is on the decrease because you banned guns? Odd, I thought it should simply disappear. How comes that Switzerland has guns and they don't have school shootings? Maybe they're smarter than limeys? Certainly they are richer, so they must be smarter.

        I feel sorry for you. Have you considered suicide?
      • bIuebonics, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1while the OP is obviously a moron and you're spot on, i have to digg you down for assuming he's american.
        • bumblefoot, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1yeah my bad, i should have known that being a ***** is multinational :p
      • kuzotz, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I live in Oklahoma. If we were to ban guns in our state, we would be screwed. We get less crime (except in Tulsa) because people know if they try ***** with anyone that they;ll get their heads blown off their shoulders. I've seen that happen before actually. A man was assaulting a woman, and this random guy witnessed it, ran to his car and got out his shotgun and booooooooommm.. Well shot him in the leg, but still. Saving the woman.. Anyway America's public education system sucks. What is happening right now is that Charter schools are becoming popular. Why? You aren't forced into a district so you can be from any part of a city and still attend a good school without having the whole family move. Now Charter schools also hold teachers, and administrators accountable for their actions. So they can easily get fired if they're not up to standard.
    • tizz66, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3Oh shut up.
    • nihilite, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3wow. a rambling belligerent rant. love it.
      • Pixelante, on 10/10/2007, -2/+0Anytime you want. I have more rants in the attic. They're always making noises. The rants in the attic.

        I have a pet rant. Its name is Brown Jenkin.

    • mattmcm, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4"I'd kill myself if I were one."
      Then it's a shame you're not a Brit. Seriously, we could be a lot better off without arseholes like you.

      EDIT: Obligatory ***** YOU goes here.
      • Pixelante, on 10/10/2007, -3/+0Well, some people actually become british cit... Er, SUBJECTS only to commit suicide. With explosives.
    • Asystole, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1You sound like the Timecube guy.
      • Pixelante, on 10/10/2007, -2/+0Evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil.

        Here. Better now?
  • joerod, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Probably one of the dumbest things I've ever heard. I could only wish I could google something when I was in elementary or high school. The internet is one of the best instruments for learning, right next to books (probably better)
    • jedikv, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1The amount of crap that is floating the internet? - give me a book any day of the week.
  • jason469, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1"[They] demanded an inquiry into the technology, pointing to a range of maladies which could be down to radio waves cooking the brains of pupils and teachers alike."

    So wait, aren't they only banning Youtube and Wifi? so are they complaining about Cat5 also?

    Those teacher are pretty dumb, where's the tinfoil hat?
  • DarkDragon, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3They're probably just angry that the smart students are learning more from the internet than from them...
  • shaun1018, on 10/10/2007, -2/+5I can has innernets?
    • thailand1972, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1OK, as long as you can keep your tired-out internet memes to yourself.
  • fredosauz, on 10/10/2007, -1/+0Do they have a website?
    • roberto_deneero, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1www.BritishTeachersWithBadTeeth.co.uk
  • darrin60, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2Should be about as successful as their age old ban on dentistry...
  • Xarou, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2This may not be in the article, but I cannot read it because I don't know if this site is blocked by my company. But banning the Internet because it leads to the stupidity in kids is like wanting to ban sex because sex leads to STDs. The Internet isn't a bad place, if you know how to censor stuff and can figure out what kind of sites are bad and which are good. But seeing how we can't have a standard to figure out which person is competent enough to discern between the two, then we're going to have to deal with the stupid people out there.
  • MisterZero, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1And I thought the American education system was messed up.
  • Ubl0, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Two letters, BS!!
  • timla, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Every country has their share of whack jobs
    • TacTics40, on 10/10/2007, -2/+0America is still far in the lead. Nice try Britain! You'll never beat us!
      • edwartica, on 10/10/2007, -1/+0Hey now, we don't have any whack jobs in this country. All of our leaders are stable citizens who have good heads on their shoulders and nothing but wisdom leading their paths!
        Ok, I can't keep a strait face anymore!
      • duality, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Well, of course America has more screwballs than most other countries. Fortunately, America also has more normal people than most other countries. The jury is still out as to which country's screwballs are capable of doing the most damage.
        • kuzotz, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1please most white americans are afraid of an argument or a black guy walking pass them at night, and even their own shadows. White Americans are pussies.
  • Ethek, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0"Parkin demanded an inquiry into the technology, pointing to a range of maladies which could be down to radio waves cooking the brains of pupils and teachers alike. These include loss of concentration, fatigue, reduced memory and headaches."

    Lets ignore the multitude of other environmental factors society has introduced to recent generations. I blame food preservatives and dyes. At least my kid has allergy tested to show negative reactions from that crap. Aside from the very subtle physical reactions that show as result of my kid intaking red dye #40 the symptoms discussed in the article a far more prominent
  • whisperedlie, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2The article didn't necessarily say the Internet should be banned. Inaccurate title.
  • orlyfactor, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2...and get off my damn lawn!
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