![Regulating an online presence at school should not be left up to kids. Picture: Shutterstock Regulating an online presence at school should not be left up to kids. Picture: Shutterstock](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/RXMuw2JbrrS7ELSxSY9rkR/3c17e1b6-d09d-4081-9cda-90cf0834335c.jpg/r0_131_1000_693_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
It is not only naive, but blatantly ignorant, for any adult to expect young teenagers to have the ability to regulate their use of technology.
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The majority of all senior school students are distracted by technology in class and in life. Ask any teacher. Ask any parent.
To date, only Sydney Grammar School has had the courage to ban outright the use of not just phones in school but the use of laptops in class for years 7 to 9.
The consequent attention deficit caused by the seductive and addictive lure of the internet and its rabbit hole of endless distraction to our childrens' ability to learn, requires immediate intervention by the Education Minister and the Education Directorate if we are to ensure this generation of students has the ability to learn.
We owe it to them.
After all, who of us adults would have completed tertiary education let alone high school had we the same distraction of technology which our kids have today?
Phoebe Zardo, Hughes
A poor substitute
What a drag. I discovered the other day that Scott Morrison had himself sworn in to do my job.
I haven't found out if he's taken any of my pay, but the real disappointment is that he didn't actually do any of my work for me. That would have been nice.
I was pretty busy during the pandemic; he could have given me a helping hand. He didn't step in to contradict me or do anything differently, so I guess he liked my work.
Paul Wayper, Cook
Vapes a danger to dogs
Good on schools for trying to reduce vaping.
I wonder how many people realise that the contents of vapes are poisonous to dogs.
Dogs love the smell and will rip open packaging to get at the contents; something they do not do with cigarettes.
A friend tells me all the vet practices in the UK have signs up warning of the risks, as they have so many poisoning cases. I wonder what they do to wildlife here in Australia?
Greens, get your act together and take some action on this. Our waterways are full of cigarette butts. Soon it will be vapes.
T Henderson, Holder
Constitutional law
Does the Constitution admit to there being more than one particular federal minister for a designated function at a time and that their responsibilities could be exercised differently when it suited one but not the other?
If not, then the G-G would have no legal justification in appointing such another minister under any circumstance.
It would seem odd for a constitution written, in the stringent times of the late 19th century, to have made such a provision. It seems unlikely the states and the voters would have approved more ministers of state than was absolutely necessary for the government of the new Commonwealth.
B L West, Deakin
Unintended consequences
The Greens are suggesting a cap on rents.
They might like to look at some World War II history. My father (a carpenter - not a developer) built three small rental properties in Newcastle before the war.
At some time in the war, rents were frozen and renters could not be removed. By the end of the war everything had changed and the still fixed rents did not even cover the cost of maintenance.
The renters were effectively peppercorn squatters living in now squalid conditions. When the laws changed the homes were sold for the value of the land and the houses had to be demolished. Beware of what you wish for.
Roy Bray, Ngunnawal
What about ethics?
The feeling coming from the Liberal Party is Scott Morrison should not resign as it could cause a problem if there were a byelection in Cook.
Mr Morrison has undermined the accepted conventions on which our Parliament is founded. His fellow Liberal Party members are supporting him to avoid a poor byelection result.
This is in a new low.