Pinterest is testing a new featurethat displays a message to underage users in the US and Canada during school hours, encouraging them to close the app and turn off notifications until school is out.
“Focus is a beautiful thing,” the message says. “Stay in the moment by putting Pinterest down and turning off notifications until the school bell rings.”
The pop-up will appear to minors aged 13 to 17 between 8am and 3pm, Monday through Friday.
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Pinterest says it is the first technology company to test such a feature to help children focus on school and their homework.
What are the positives of this possibility?
1. Focuses on education, not punishment
It does not block access, it does not punish, it simply encourages minors to prioritize their schoolwork. This shows respect and maturity towards teenagers.
2. Adapts to school hours
The notification appears during school hours, which shows that Pinterest is thinking about the context of use, not just the content.
3. It reinforces the culture of “personal control”
It encourages users to turn off notifications and take a break, which enhances decision-making and self-regulation.
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However, we cannot know if this effort will be effective. follow it underage users? A message is good, but it can be easily ignored. Perhaps it needs reinforcement with badges, reminders or gamification.
Shutting down Pinterest at school
In general, the company's CEO, Bill Ready, had previously announced that he supports the Child Internet Safety Act and a school without phones.
“At Pinterest, we believe that schools can benefit from all that technology has to offer students while minimizing harm and distraction,” said Wanji Walcott, Pinterest’s head of legal and business affairs. “need Tech companies to work with teachers, parents, and policymakers to create solutions that ensure that in the hands of our students, smartphones are tools, not distractions.”
See also: Roblox: Brings new parental controls to protect children
New York is moving closer to implementing a ban on phone use during the school day, while several other states already have policies that limit or prohibit phone use. In Europe, countries such as Denmark and the Netherlands have already banned phones in schools. France announced that teenagers will have to lock their phones at school starting next academic year.
Source: www.theverge.com
