Phones

I realize this is a microcosm, here at this university, but phones have taken over lives.  Nearly every single student cannot come to class without their phones, and they very nearly refuse to give them up.  It is a constant struggle to get them to give me their phones to put on a desk at the front of the class. It is a fools venture to think that they could have them in their possession and not look at them.

Normally, I take them at the start of the class so we can get *something done.  This week, I didn't, because I needed them to join a group on their wechat accounts, so they needed their phones.  But then expecting them to be able to hold back and not use them while they are in their possession - idiocy.

I am wondering what college is like back in the U.S. now.  Just a few years ago when I was attending classes in person, people had them on their desks, but weren't *always looking at them, but it did happen.  I just think that education is being affected so much that it is no longer the same at all.  Taking them at least for a portion of the classes seems to work, but it's like pulling teeth, but then again, nearly everything here is.

I know it makes me think of Baiju.