Your Smartphone makes you dumber!

[Bob Williams]

That is a better deal, Richard. I have the £9.98 deal I mentioned, but my missus does not/will not email or use a browser from her phone, therefore does not have a data deal. And still on Pay as you go, probably pays out about as much on average as I do. Hey-ho, fixed ideas in the female mind… I gave up trying to change that about 30 years ago.

Have to say that I share your preference for a bigger screen, mine is a second-hand 24″ Iiyama on this desktop. Phone has a 5.5″ screen which is not bad, but I cannot use it to read e-books comfortably, that’s why I have a Lenovo 8″ tablet. I use the phone to screen out a lot of stuff: most of the dross is deleted before breakfast is over, leaving the rest for the desktop later. This week, though, I am using the phone more, as I am ferrying about my dyslexic 18 yo grandson. He is at the point of almost getting another year at college and another two courses. This week he is sitting exams designed to test his ability to take further his Electrical Installations work, having already passed the first 3 parts he would be able to get a job. However, he has the bit between his teeth now and wants to pass the last 2 parts, while also taking his IT qualifications further. To say I am proud of him, does not do him justice. All his education has been a constant struggle, but he has always given 100% to it, knowing from the start that he has to work harder than any classmates. The results are telling: out of a course 2 years ago of 22 students, he is one of 5 who got this far. He has left so-called ‘brighter’ lads behind. He says that he wants to be in a position to offer an employer more than others, which is one reason why he took Work Experience at 14 and still works 2 days a week at the same company, who have promised him a great reference.

To help him through this vital period, this week and probably next, he goes to college on the bus and I bring him home, after a text as he finishes. For his 2 days work, dad takes him and I bring him back. He is also having driving lessons, but does not want a car- he says a van makes more sense for his needs. A big, quiet, pensive lad, who has a large vocabulary but has trouble writing down what he knows and understands. I love him to bits.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Tippon]

The Duke wrote:

My father in law, can’t do tech, and decent dumb phones are now getting do hard to find. He has had a terrible job finding a good simple phone. He must of had 10+ over the last two year. All failing, in rather ear volume, ringer volume, test on screen size, or button size. I just place an order for the “new” fake nokia 3310, I think that may be dumb enough, for him, but actually be a good phone.

Don’t know if this would be any good for him, or anyone here:

https://www.7dayshop.com/products/nokia-105-unlocked-sim-free-mobile-phone-black-WH2-AC40098

 

[The Duke]

He has had that one. Or one like it The £10 tesco nokia. He has old eyes, old ears, and a touch of white finger from his days in the pit. What he does need is that oap centric phone that has huge buttons and does phone and text, but he would be highly insulted if I handed him that. He is a keen MMA and boxing enthusiast, so I can’t insult him to much.

He may be old, but still fit, ran marathons for year, and an ex Reme, the tho old guy has still has a bit about him. He is also one of the few people with wider shoulders than me. Like me he is almost as wide as tall.

I hear the 3310 is just one of the cheap Nokias in a new frock. So I may be wasting my money on that too.

[Richard]

Bob Williams wrote:

That is a better deal, Richard. I have the £9.98 deal I mentioned, but my missus does not/will not email or use a browser from her phone, therefore does not have a data deal. And still on Pay as you go, probably pays out about as much on average as I do. This week, though, I am using the phone more, as I am ferrying about my dyslexic 18 yo grandson. He is at the point of almost getting another year at college and another two courses. <snipped>. I love him to bits.

Bob, first an admission, a typo in the price for three mobiles, it should have been less than £29, (i.e. a £9+ deal for each) I hit the ‘0’ not ‘9’, oops. All have some data allowance, but my wife having seen the complexity of both our daughters Samsung and my Moto has vowed, Never! The finality of that can be inferred.

I envy your Grandson’s position in life, I have seen many like him progress through life driven by just that strong attitude, it helped our eldest gain her degree and professional qualification. In contrast our younger daughter has had a continuing melt down period. A new neighbour had a house warming last weekend my wife went along to have a break while I did ‘watch-keeping’, things have continued at a low ebb since.

On Thursday our elder daughter took her 4 year old to see her soon to be ‘big school’. Our daughter, was shocked at the lack of interest in their child’s education shown by the other mothers. Many had never worked and no one else had any interest in their offspring getting any sort of qualification by the end of their schooling, what a contrast which makes your grandson’s drive really ‘glow’ in the most positive way.

[Ed P]

Parental attitudes have a huge impact on children being able to use their abilities to the full. Modern research now shows that educational achievements only have about a 30% dependency on their genetic make-up, the remaining 70% is completely shaped by the child’s environment. Diet and health are reasonably large factors in this, but parental attitudes and educational participation by the parents have by far the larger influence.

I guess some of this is probably a post-code lottery. but I have just witnessed one of my grandchildren progressing through the Play School period into the first years of proper schooling. I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of materials given to the parents which if properly used could result in the child starting school with a fairly sound idea of both reading and numeracy. Obviously those parents who are too busy/tired after working all day have to find a ‘second wind’ to do all this, but the primary school teachers say that there is a visible educational gap between those who do and those who do not take this time to encourage and support their children.

[Bob Williams]

As our son, gson’s dad is also dyslexic, he could not read to the lad when he was young. So it was mostly me doing that, but I have always done that for the kids anyway. At one time when youngest gdaughter was small, I was asked to read my choice of (vetted) books to her Infants class. I enjoyed that so much, as I can adopt accents and make it exciting as well as educational. I still have a picture of me in the library with about 25 nippers all round my chair, listening and some laughing. I had to be vetted of course, but I think that was one of the most magic times of my life.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Richard]

The Duke wrote:

He has had that one. Or one like it The £10 tesco nokia. He has old eyes, old ears, and a touch of white finger from his days in the pit. What he does need is that oap centric phone that has huge buttons and does phone and text, but he would be highly insulted if I handed him that. He is a keen MMA and boxing enthusiast, so I can’t insult him to much. He may be old, but still fit, ran marathons for year, and an ex Reme, the tho old guy has still has a bit about him. He is also one of the few people with wider shoulders than me. Like me he is almost as wide as tall. I hear the 3310 is just one of the cheap Nokias in a new frock. So I may be wasting my money on that too.

Steve, He clearly needs something he can buy into and find to his tastes. Is there anyway he can review things on offer for himself and at least guide anyone who helps him? Buying blind and giving something is never going to rate highly. I wonder if perhaps dealing with any underlying issues, e.g. an eye issue via better glasses could be a starting point? If he has hand trouble, (been there done that; different cause and different solutions) asking him what would make life easier might be a way to ease him into a more tailored solution that he could/would accept since he would have bought in along the way.  For example, I use a ‘touch wand’ or pointer thing on the phone as it ignores my fingers much of the time.

[Richard]

Ed P wrote:

Parental attitudes have a huge impact on children being able to use their abilities to the full. Modern research now shows that educational achievements only have about a 30% dependency on their genetic make-up, the remaining 70% is completely shaped by the child’s environment. Diet and health are reasonably large factors in this, but parental attitudes and educational participation by the parents have by far the larger influence. I guess some of this is probably a post-code lottery. but I have just witnessed one of my grandchildren progressing through the Play School period into the first years of proper schooling. I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of materials given to the parents which if properly used could result in the child starting school with a fairly sound idea of both reading and numeracy. Obviously those parents who are too busy/tired after working all day have to find a ‘second wind’ to do all this, but the primary school teachers say that there is a visible educational gap between those who do and those who do not take this time to encourage and support their children.

Ed, I pretty much agree with you except that in my granddaughter’s school’s case most of the other mothers  did not work and had no interest in school as other than as a warehouse for their kids, in short it was less ‘I don’t care’ and more ‘stop expecting anything from us’. Our daughter, who had been surprised at what the school wanted to achieve and how they prepared to work for it, is now wondering if the school’s support will be enough to overcome the negative influence of such parents. Her daughter can already read simple text, write a little, count and has a basic grasp of numbers.

[Ed P]

The dangers for your granddaughter are peer pressure and bullying. In the wrong environment school children can be little horrors in trying to cut down other children they  perceive as ‘tall poppies’. Your daughter needs to be very sensitive to any signs of bullying. A change in school may be needed!

[edit] It is much easier to address with boys. When my eldest son joined school in the US he was about two years ahead of his year group (better UK education!), and was perceived as a ‘Nerd’ and ripe for bullying, but he is also very sporty (had his red belt in Karate, and excelled at ‘soccer’) so he also passed as a ‘Jock’ and definitely not ‘bully-bait’.

[The Duke]

The majority of his issues is with sound. They rather don’t ring loud enough, he currently has a Motorola razor (remember them), no idea where it came from, but has big buttons, and a decent screen. However this you can’t turn off t-9 predict, so he can’t use it, and the ringer is to low. He misses all calls and texts. Also as far as I can figure you can’t change the ringer to something obnoxious.

He has been in this hunt ever since my old Nokia N95 died about two years ago. He got that what I got the origanal G1 so 2008.

 

 

[Bob Williams]

Steve your FIL sounds a bit like me, maybe a bit older than my 72: was he a miner before or after he joined REME? I was down the pit with 5 mates one Friday, having finished one Day shift, when the Afternoon shift came on, our mates among them. It was mid – July and the Afters lads said it was sunny and hot.

I thought “That will be me next week, coming down this bloody great black hole on Afters when there is sunshine up there!” So I said I was going to join up after dinner in the pit canteen. All 5 on the shift followed me, only 2 of us joined up. 12 years later, after being an Aircraft tech, I changed direction and became a motor mechanic, working on engines that do not leave the ground.?

Ask you FIL what trade he had in REME, and what the motto in the REME stable belt buckle means.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[The Duke]

I’ll ask when I see him next. He is a a bit younger.

[Tippon]

Richard wrote:

Our daughter, was shocked at the lack of interest in their child’s education shown by the other mothers. Many had never worked and no one else had any interest in their offspring getting any sort of qualification by the end of their schooling…

It’s the same here with loads of people. They genuinely care for their kids, and want them to have a good future, but a large proportion of people don’t seem to realise that a decent education is a part of that. There was a post going around Facebook a few weeks back where someone pointed out that they hadn’t used algebra in the 20 or so years since they left school, and they were proud of not needing ‘maths’! These are the same people who complain about their crappy jobs and lack of money mind (if they’re working at all).

[Bob Williams]

The Duke wrote:

I’ll ask when I see him next. He is a a bit younger.

Might have been in when I was; ’64 to ’76. A bit of time added on for bad behaviour, LOL.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[The Duke]

I’m not sure tbh, he wasn’t in long, then spent most of his life down the pit. Don’t well out of it. I actually do where I do cos after the strike he moved to the local pit, bringing my wife to be with him. He did then do ta for about ten years too. Basically for the free holiday to Europe every summer without the kids. Which then paid for his actually holiday to Europe with the kids.

He retired quite early from the pit due to an accident, with a nice pay out.  he held a decent role. They let him blow stuff up, which is always fun. Eventually he was some type of “safety manager” the start of health and safety pribaly, he only went for that as the pay bump was very nice and it got you off the coal face.

[Richard]

Ed P wrote:

The dangers for your granddaughter are peer pressure and bullying. In the wrong environment school children can be little horrors in trying to cut down other children they perceive as ‘tall poppies’. Your daughter needs to be very sensitive to any signs of bullying. A change in school may be needed! [edit] It is much easier to address with boys. When my eldest son joined school in the US he was about two years ahead of his year group (better UK education!), and was perceived as a ‘Nerd’ and ripe for bullying, but he is also very sporty (had his red belt in Karate, and excelled at ‘soccer’) so he also passed as a ‘Jock’ and definitely not ‘bully-bait’.

Yes Ed I am well aware of the deterioration in social behaviour. When I started school rationing was still in sway and the ‘less advantaged’ were considerably more ‘disadvantaged’ than most now. I still ache and cringe inside at the sight of class mate 5 and 6 year old girls doing exercise classes in gym knickers that were clearly hand-me-downs. (it was a catholic school) and had more holes than fabric. Yet, I do not remember any sense of class war, or some objecting to those who were brighter or had some other difference.Perhaps these days one should seek a school that has mainly Indian and Chinese children, rather than the dross which afflicts so many of our schools.

I really wonder why the cult of stupid thug ignorance has been allowed to grow and thrive in so many areas of life.

[Ed P]

I think bullying is an inherent part of the ‘animal’ psyche. I was fortunate enough to go to a coed school which gave us males a small insight into female behaviour. Although the usual male ‘cock of the roost’ fights took place they were soon over and done with – both forgiven and forgotten, However the males used to look on with a degree of horror at the way females played cruel clique mind-games with one another. I gather that the advent of smart phone social media has made such ‘games’ a thousand times more effective and even more cruel than they were 60 years ago.

[Richard]

Yes, the Faceplant generation welded to their false image ‘so it must be right ideas’ are doing great harm to antisocial attitudes. I see one dumbo killed her ‘boyfriend’ because a book would stop the bullet. No dumbo, but reading the book thing not faceplant might have been a better idea.

[Bob Williams]

My youngest gson was bullied at his Academy at 14 – by 3 girls! It began when one asked him out and he told her the truth, that he didn’t fancy her because she smoked and smelled like an old ashtray. That is part of his character, he has always told the truth as he sees it, doesn’t matter who he is talking to. Being a big, intelligent lad, he cares little for wht others think.

The girls tormented him for a a couple of weeks, one even went so far as to tell everyone she knew that gs had got her pregnant. In the end his mates came to his rescue: they told the girls that they were going to spread their names all around the school and the area, as being “easy”.

Richard, FB is not the ogre you think, it is the way it is used by people who have too much time and either too little, or too much, imagination, with too little intelligence. If I am bothered by someone, I just block them. The friends and family I contact, are all fine. I did have had occasion to block 2 (not close) family members and they no longer throw foul language and evil gossip around on my page. Without FB, I would not be in touch with my nieces and nephews, giving me news of their doings and their welfare, from all over the world. I am constantly amazed and often delighted at the results from the marriage of my parents in 1926. They would be just as amazed.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[The Duke]

Facebook I find is a  place of perpetual depression.

People only show the good bits of their life, so others get a bit jealous, and then show their “perfect” life back. So the first is a bit jealous  of the second, and the second jealousy of the first. And so the cycle goes, for literally billions of people.

Basically everyone is looking at the “greener field”, that doesn’t exist.

[Author]

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