Remember the good old days when teaching was a noble profession and teachers excelled at teaching children the 3 R’s: Reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic? In recent years, it seems that children are getting dumber and dumber. Well, it turns out that in Ontario, this isn’t possibly the fault of the teachers. Nope:
Four of Ontario’s largest school boards are suing the parent companies of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok, alleging the social media platforms are disrupting student learning, contributing to a mental health crisis and leaving educators to manage the fallout.
The Toronto District School Board, the Peel District School Board, the Toronto Catholic District School Board and the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board filed four separate but similar cases in Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice on Wednesday.
The lawsuits claim the social media platforms are negligently designed for compulsive use and have rewired the way children think, behave and learn, leaving teachers and schools to deal with the consequences.
Interesting take. One can only wonder how so many students have successfully learned:
- How to be a good communist.
- That all white people carry the stain of original sin.
- That the Liberals and NDP are the benevolent angels and anyone else is a right-wing Nazi bigot.
- That Mother Earth is soon to die any day now.
- That Communist China are the U.S. Democrats are just swell and Trump is the Orange Hitler.
h/t James MacMaster
As I replied to Jamie, even Doug Ford can see that they’re nuts:
“Let’s focus on math, reading and writing. That is what we need to do, put all the resources into the kids,” he said. “What are they spending lawyers fees to go after these massive companies that have endless cash to fight this? Let’s focus on the kids, not this other nonsense that they are looking to fight in court.”
I don’t often agree with Doug but, he’s right this time.
https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/nonsense-doug-ford-slams-lawsuits-filed-by-ontario-school-boards-against-social-media-platforms-1.6825530
Jamie had a good response to that too.
It is time to abolish school boards, all are infected with left wing simpletons
As are city councils.
Maybe FFF should go tell that to his education czar Lecce, and have him dismantle OISE and the school board system while he’s at it.
A Grandpa’s quick take:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/NjmMmaYPN-s
I agree.
Kids today think that chopping down a single tree is mass deforestation and they never grow back or reseed at all.
Every person in Canada can chop a hundred a day and it’s not going to affect the massive supply that regrowth… but that would destroy the narrative that our politicians are projecting.
It’s a Ralph Wiggum world!!!
https://static.simpsonswiki.com/images/thumb/1/14/Ralph_Wiggum.png/345px-Ralph_Wiggum.png
l am presently composing a nasty bit of a chronicling all the abuses l suffered at the hands (literally) of elementary teachers.
1 violently struck in grade 1 for losing my place in reading circle
2 ordered to write a speling (get it?) lesson ONE HUNDRED TIMES for daring to leave 1 letter ‘e’ off 1 word.
3 ignored by the 3-4 teacher when l got dumped into her class from overcrowding.
necessitating me to reverse engineer long division since it had not been covered in the grade 3 that had impossible speling (there it is again) standards
4 grade 5 teacher threatens to flunk me ‘for 2 pins’.
etc etc
l have utterly NOTHING but extensive intense GLEE to see *they* are now on the receiving end of the blind hate and wonton violence THEY were so fond of dishing out for 150 years.
https://www.cp24.com/news/almost-80-of-ontario-teachers-report-experiencing-or-witnessing-violence-survey-finds-1.6398926?cache=%2F7.642296
have at it kiddies !!! you got it !!! somebody hitting you? HIT BACK RELENTLESSLY
Children in non government funded schools have the same access to social media. Would anyone care to speculate on their educational performance. I don’t doubt media has an influence. Years ago at the local Christian school the principal had a Week without TV. After 3 days students behaviors and learning improved. The lawsuit is a shakedown for $$ and a deflection for a system that won’t acknowledge it’s shortcomings and down right malpractice.
” … a deflection for a system that won’t acknowledge it’s shortcomings and down right malpractice.”
Bingo! Parents should be launching the lawsuit against the boards and the unions.
Well they wouldn’t want to take their cell phones from them when they walk in the front door, for starters.
But then they just hand them a I pad anyways.
If they won’t read which is pretty boring if you already have a screen to look into, they will give you a laptop and if that isn’t enough and you can’t keep up typing you can use voice to text.
And the brilliant people that sit behind big desks sue everyone but themselves.
If the world was a better place these people would at least entertain falling on their own swords.
And lets not forget the parents yes that rain down the love, lots of it that never has a sharp edge, never challenges, and blinds their children to the jungle that’s outside their door, and behind that screen they look at for most of the day and into the night.
But lets fight it with symbolism that shows we actually don’t give a sht.
It’s all nonsense that never gets dealt with.
I could be wrong be just wait until everyone sees who shows up to “save” the day.
He/she/it will expand on the notion of people kind I’m sure.
Unless Pierre removes what needs to be, and inspires a change.
One has to have a smidgen of hope.
remind us again, why do we need the useless school boards?
So we can pretend it’s all the fault of someone else instead of giving the necessary time and effort ourselves to become useful members of effective school boards?
This school board action is correct. Phase 2 is confiscate all smart phones before the start of every class, to be returned at the end of class. A judgment into $100s of billion is a good place to start in estimating the harm caused by social media.
Such a judgment would allow the school boards to make the schools places of learning, including paying off the administrators with immediate early retirement, as well as comprehensively re-training of teachers for accountable learning, and placing students in classrooms of similar ability.
Ron DeSantis of Florida banned social media for all children under age 14. Great start, but let’s up that to 18.
“This school board action is correct. Phase 2 is confiscate all smart phones before the start of every class, to be returned at the end of class.”
I just recently discovered that students are actually using their phones inside the classrooms. I had always assumed that it wouldn’t be allowed.
Jurisdiction Shopping?
Do the School Boards Lawyers believe that Ontario Courts,which Restore CSA demonstrated as corrupt,will favour them over the media giants?
I am quite certain the Ontario Courts system can find some nice “unbiassed” Judges who spent most of their careers working for the School Boards or Education dept.
On tar I Owe..
Just another corrupt hole of the Can Ahh Duh Confederation.
So it is social media’s fault that our educational system isn’t working? It’s like watching two indoctrination cults fighting it out in public-carry on.
I’m skeptical that there’s any chance of success if their up front legal costs are literally zero. Who’s going to do the legal legwork to present the case? A bunch of newbie lawyers willing to work for contingency fees paid only upon a successful verdict? That won’t get them very far. I suspect this case will soon be abandoned.
It’s not like in the US where civil cases are tried by brain-dead juries and can make multi-million dollar awards for pain and suffering and punitive damages. Canadian courts, thankfully, can’t engage in this nonsense.
How do these school boards propose to tally up the costs of vandalism and extra effort to deal with problems caused by social media, much less establish a direct link to products offered by these social media giants? My guess: they will invent a number and see if a judge agrees.
What do you do on 4th and long because you spent the last three running shitty plays? Punt.
School boards are absolutely shameless.
Its not that children have been corrupted.. They were always corrupt.. Look how well they have fallen inline :).. The problem is DEI and the huge blind spot that comes along with it.. We know we are failing the children, so we make sure all the excuses are in order when the diploma shows up in the mail.. Global warming, white supremacy and all things green.. The young communists league fills in all the blanks..
Water under the bridge.. Social media is useful for the kids.. Bible class is not..
We have masses of immigrants from countries with average IQs that would make a real Canadian look retarded. They don’t speak English, their parents don’t speak English and are innumerate and illiterate in their mother tongue. There is only so much a teacher can do with that clay. Both my kids were honour roll students all through high school and they’re doing well in university. Same teachers as the retards.
Well said Sir!
a local school bd member all in favour of dropping John A’s name.
apparently he said some rude things behind closed doors that was enough.
a subsequent posting l found here @ SDA contradicted and listed huge things
he did for natives.
l never got around to challenging her with it and 2 days ago expunged dozens of email folders including the one of the school board.
FCUK ‘EM LET THEM WALLOW IN THEIR OWN EXCREMENT IF THATS WHAT HAPPENS.
it is now all a shakespearean stage play lm merely an audience member, taking it in
STRICTLY FOR ENTERTAINMENT
in the end at least l will have clear insight how empires fall.