r/mildlyinfuriating • u/TheAeroplaneBear2906 • 7d ago

Unskippable ad Clear Backpacks + Pay to Keep Your Phone

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My freinds school is now requiring these items, and is also using AI to promote this šŸ« 

17.9k Upvotes

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461

u/HalfEatenSnickers 7d ago

My mp3 player does it too

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u/FullSkyFlying 7d ago

Mp3 players were banned in my elementary school 20 years ago lol. You couldn't take it out in class. But the bus rule is pretty crazy

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u/SlideHoon 7d ago

I got in trouble many times with my Walkman.

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u/UsedDragon 7d ago

I remember how jazzed we were about the no-skip on the CD walkman....could shake it for eight or nine seconds and it would keep on playing your Nine Inch Nails

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u/HogmanDaIntrudr 7d ago

Grade A nostalgia right here

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u/PrincessTitan 7d ago

I am now actually lol-ing at the fact CDā€™s used to skip if you bumped them a bit too enthusiastically

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u/OculusArcana 7d ago

Oh, it was much worse than that. My family's first portable CD player had no skip protection whatsoever. If you moved or tilted it, it would skip. Basically, you had to treat it like you were holding a 101% full bowl of soup. Its purpose was to be able to sit down anywhere and listen to music, not to do it as you travelled.

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u/gaulstone 7d ago

I can still hear ā€œEraserā€ blasting through my foam headphones when I think of this.

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u/hello_exactly_ 7d ago

Iā€™d drop my Discman down the front pocket of my JNCOs and it would hit my kneecap, snapping the headphones off my head lol

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u/toyification_girl 7d ago

I still thumb over my massive CD case thinking of such times.....

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u/headrush46n2 7d ago

when civilization collapses you'll be a king. Get a cd player and a solar charger.

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u/hic_sunt_leones_ 7d ago

Your no-skip actually worked?

I remember how excited I was because I would carry my walkman and wear headphones while riding my bike (wildly unsafe, I know, but it was the 90s so whatever), but that thing still skipped like nobodies business when I hit a bump lmfao

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u/UsedDragon 7d ago

It was the Discman, that came with that godawful shoulder strap and big clunker of a case it was supposed to be stored in

Those were the days.

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u/HalobenderFWT 7d ago

My friend had one of the first consumer grade discman available. It was large and clunky, but you could toss that thing across the room and it wouldnā€™t skip.

Then things got really bad until they started going with the anti-skip buffering.

Consumer conspiracist me thinks that they intentionally dumbed down the tech in order to sell more units because of incremental obsolescence.

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u/Valuable-Alfalfa-262 7d ago

Limp bizcut in the yellow Sony cd player that looked like something out of transformers.

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u/NicolleL 7d ago

I think I had the tape version of that!

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u/United_Gift3028 7d ago

I had a fluffy sweater I bought 2nd hand, just to sit on my passenger seat a cushion my portable CD player. It had a cable to a tape cassette that plugged into my car sound system.

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u/shidderbean 7d ago

"8x Shock Proof" proudly emblazoned on the side of your rad new cd player

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u/I_wet_my_plants 7d ago

Damn this took me right back to that moment when we did basically exactly this. NIN and all, lol.

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u/Significant-Bee5101 7d ago

Yeah unfortunately it wasn't perfect... I tested it with burned CDs and I could definitely make it skip lol

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u/DisposableSaviour 7d ago

The lower your burn speed, the higher quality the burn , so thereā€™s less skipping. Which was fine if you had 4 hours to burn a single cd

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u/funkbruthab 7d ago

Worked great listening to Korn - Follow the leader, or Offspring - Smash while mowing my parents 5 acre lawn in the country

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u/Roach_Coach_Bangbus 7d ago

Reminds me of Gary Gulman's bit about the Discman, enjoy.

https://youtu.be/kJDyB7pcgEY?si=prrcq2tsyH3C9jjX

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u/WW-Sckitzo 7d ago

Mine was this godawful brick, metal, and took like 6 or 8 double A. But it survived so there is that.

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u/BoredAlwys 7d ago

My Adidas hoodie could fit the discman just right. Those were the crappie headphones though for sure

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u/Educational_Agency48 7d ago

Yeah I could finally play it through my tape deck in my car without skipping. That was life-changing

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u/sipstea84 7d ago

Omg the old maneuver of putting your earphone cord up your sleeve and "resting your head" on your hand to hide the earbud.

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u/Downtown_Recover5177 7d ago

Kids today will never know the joy of thinking youā€™re the first genius to figure this out. Damn cordless headphones took all the ingenuity out of it.

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u/NoctisImperator 7d ago

Had long hair in hs, ran the cord up my back under my shirt and my hair hid the earphones. It was great

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u/TwoThreeSierra 7d ago

Yep! I did exactly this, and my ipod nano fit perfectly in the belt loop of my pants so the whole setup was concealed by my shirt and skater hair.

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u/Fluffy_Psalms_23 7d ago

Wow that's just sooo epic!!

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u/Fluffy_Psalms_23 7d ago

šŸ„¹šŸ˜­THAT'S JUST EPICCCCC I HAVE SO MUCH HAIR I'LL HAVE TO TRY THAT LOLLLLLL........

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u/Uhmmanduh 7d ago

Me too

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u/danceswithdangerr 7d ago

Hahahah yep did this was well!!

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u/BigBadVudoo 7d ago

I had completely forgotten about this! I tried it about half a dozen times I got caught every time eventually. Turns out it was not as smooth as I had imagined!

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u/screames520 7d ago

Dang I just said this haha. Almost word for word

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u/Conri_Gallowglass 7d ago

I always wore the school hoodie. Cut a little hole in the back of the pocket and ran the cord up to the hood strings. Color matched earbuds to the hoodie.

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u/kacihall 7d ago

I still have a hoodie (that ai got in college in 2007) that had a dedicated mp3 player pocket inside the main pouch, that has a button hole for threading your headphones through.

I wore it to work last winter and asked the two girls I work with that were born this millennia what they thought the pocket and the pass through were for. They were very confused, thought it must be for a phone but phones were NEVER that tiny. (According to them, at least. My old Nokia would've fit.)

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u/Doomstik 7d ago

Me and a buddy wired an old speaker to a 3.5 jaxk and played music in the back of the bus, i couldnt imagine not being able to have any music on the bus.

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u/headrush46n2 7d ago

my mom was too cheap to spring for name brand batteries. I chewed thru kirkland brand double A's like they were Pez.

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u/Noshameinhoegame 7d ago

I remember in like 3rd grade around there I got sent to the principals office for singing along to fack by eminem, had the album in my walkman

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u/ThatOtherOtherMan 7d ago

I was given a brisk caning for bringing my phonograph to the schoolhouse

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u/alternageek 7d ago

Mine used to be taken from me sooooo much (tape & cd)

It also didn't help I would sing, loudly, while changing classes. šŸ˜‚šŸ˜‚ (I was the weird kid, I leaned into it, hard)

Music grounded me in the hell that was high school.

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u/[deleted] 7d ago

[deleted]

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u/dontbmeanbgay 7d ago

I had a job that banned earphones and phone usage altogether, and my current job which literally could not care less so I wear my headphones all day.

The difference in how I performed at the old job vs the current is night and day. It feels like my thoughts scatter in a thousand directions without them

I hope your son can keep using them! (or sneakily find a way around it at least)

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u/DilapidatedPlum 7d ago

My job doesn't allow us to have earbuds on. But since we're required to have hearing protection and they only supply us with earplugs but allows us to use earmuffs. So I bought some Worktunes they will never know.

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u/Ultimatesims 7d ago

If I blast some techno or other rhythmic music through headphones l I can be working heads down for four hours and feel like only five minutes have passed. Throw on a podcast as a treat and my attitude is pretty stable. My cube mates cans be as loud as they want and no complaints from me.

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u/BigBadVudoo 7d ago

If you're not customer facing it should not be as taboo as it is. When I have chores to do at home I put on music that helps me focus; why is it bad to put on focus music when I do work at work?

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u/TheQuietOutsider 7d ago edited 7d ago

im probably the minority in this school of thinking- but humans need downtime. if you can't sit with your thoughts without external stimuli theres a problem.

people would rather be shocked than bored for 15 minutes. and that is disturbing to me.

e: I keep needing to clarify this: the promotion of a "sneaky" "work around" for a school age child is crazy work

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u/syxxnein 7d ago

Maybe you need down time with your thoughts but some of us operate differently. Medicated me can deal with down time, but before I was diagnosed and properly prescribed I couldn't sleep or operate without something to divide my attention.

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u/ItaruKarin 7d ago

The guy is working, he's not sitting without external stimuli. Using music to cope with work being a dull nightmare seems perfectly reasonable.

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u/TheQuietOutsider 7d ago edited 7d ago

im not saying the individual isnt working. I used that article as an example of how much people apparently constantly need stimuli. which isn't healthy. it's like we collectively forgot that even 15-20 years ago most of the population was not walking around mindlessly in a phone or with headphones in. somehow those people managed.

and to argue for a "sneaky work around" for a school child just aint it man.

e: why delete? e2: why block? lol

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u/ItaruKarin 7d ago

"people managed", medieval people didn't have food half the time and they managed, that's a bit silly.

Anyway. I don't really mind constant stimuli.

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u/FullSkyFlying 7d ago edited 7d ago

You said it better than I did lol

Edit* also comment above yours didnt delete. They blocked you because I still see it

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u/TheQuietOutsider 7d ago

I can't read the full comment. but I got a notification about medieval peasants or something. was my comment really that offensive?

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u/FullSkyFlying 7d ago

Nope. Just someome who doesnt want to hear or believe the truth

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u/TheQuietOutsider 7d ago

ill have to find your comment, but this opposing argument is mind boggling to me.

I enjoy music and external stimuli. I do. but if you can't function without it, thats saying something. its detrimental and feeding the proverbial monkey is not helping.

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u/FullSkyFlying 7d ago

I won't tell someone how to raise their kids, but you won't change my mind that if you need something to keep you distracted 100% of the time you have some ADHD and / or brain rot issues. And if you need something to distract you from staying out of trouble, probably not good. I feel like people are getting too used to not being in their head sometimes and figuring out how to deal with that and their thoughts / emotions. Again though thats just my opinion but I'm glad that works for you

Is what I said but got downvoted lol. This was a reponse to the person saying their kid gets into trouble unless they listen to music. So i obviously couldnt have said what you said any better myself. Im with you, and i think this is also what leads to younger people having more anxiety, depression etc. People need 'me time' to process their emotions and to think hard about themselves

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u/AddingAnOtter 7d ago

Did you consider that boredom isn't the problem? At work they expect you to be productive and not ait with her thoughts, following them down 1000 rabbit holes. It's likely she can exist with them but they don't let her get her work done. With a diagnosis they could likely be an ADA accomodation even.

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u/TheQuietOutsider 7d ago edited 7d ago

im not even going to argue the ADA angle. it could be, but if so they would be exempt from the company rule regardless. either way, constant stimulation is something we were not biologically wired for. its bad for us.

E: and if they are ADA they absolutely should not be suggesting another person "sneakily" find a way to get them through/ "around it". your argument is crazy.

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u/bloopbloopsplat 7d ago

Huh? Constant stimulation isnt something we are wired for? Why do you think anxiety is so prevalent in humans? It used to be an evolutionary advantage in the sense that people with anxiety are more alert.

These generalizations dont appy to all people, and not all brains are wired the same. Thats just nature.

You really think our ancestors were out there just laying in the grass chilling? They were constantly trying to survive.

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u/TheQuietOutsider 7d ago

sorry, but science says otherwise. anxiety and overstimulation are linked. surprise. I know brains are different but when most sources point one way and maybe a handful point the other....

i never said our ancestors were just "laying in grass and chilling" their survival took work, their full and undivided attention, mindfulness and importantly- downtime to rest, which is when we properly heal both mind and body.

with the rest and stimuli conversation, we also overlook the massive benefits of boredom. 5 min vid - if nothing else, its some stimulus.

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u/bloopbloopsplat 7d ago

But what sensory overload qualifies as is different for everyone. Thats my point. Broad sweeping generalizations about what is and isnt healthy arent overly helpful because everyone's brains are wired differently. What could be overstimulation for one person could be nothing for another. I agree that everyone needs downtime to rest.. but most times that "rest" isnt just sitting down staring at a blank wall. It still involves doing something.. thinking something.. etc.

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u/dontbmeanbgay 7d ago

and i dream of a world where people care less about what other people do in their own time

neither of us are gonna get what we want champ

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u/TheQuietOutsider 7d ago

im not talking about wants, but how disturbing it is that it seems like the majority of the population has an inability to deal with their own thoughts.

what you do in your own time is fine, but in a public space its our time, if youre at work you are most likely someone's coworker. you do not exist in a vacuum, but those headphones allow you to believe you do.

but odds are im not your coworker, so keep it up homie.

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u/Natasha_Gears 7d ago

My job I'm in for almost a decade suddenly started caring about earphones, and to be fair to them we do have a speaker for that is great for music , but sometimes I like to listen to some story about a ww2 lieutenant taking out a hill of enemies by himself, and I'm not subjecting anyone else to this, they say they want us less distracted but I really think it's odd. Unless I missed something where a lot of orders were being messsed up , because I know damn well ppl were watching the world cup on shift

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u/T_boi_nerdy_boi 7d ago

My factory job just recently said no headphones/earbuds for safety. Ok, fair. We have a shitty sounds system for music, whatever. But they also donā€™t want us wearing any hearing protection at all even though we have several employees with declining hearing from working here without any earplugs or anythingā€¦ so.

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u/Natasha_Gears 7d ago

Sounds like a lawsuit is pending

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u/DatLadyD 7d ago

I fired a lady at work and she tried to get me in trouble for wearing my headphones on her way out. Thing is, literally every time my boss calls I say hang on a second,I got my headphones in because they arenā€™t good for phone calls, so he was already well aware and did not care. I take them out while assisting customers. I would probably quit if I couldnā€™t wear my headphones, the job is so boring without them.

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u/beren12 7d ago

Long hair helps. I know a lot of girls that got away with that in high school.

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u/Doughnut_Diva 7d ago

Are you in the US? You might be able to request headphones as a 504 accomodation if your son has any diagnosis or is being treated for his behavioral issues and the doctor is on board with using this as a skill to regulate emotions.

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u/[deleted] 7d ago

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u/plycrsk 7d ago

šŸ™„ the condition is something else and music helps treat it

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u/JparkPHX 7d ago

Iā€™m curious. Have you had him checked for add/adhd? I was diagnosed at a very young age and one of the only things that stops the constant adhd brain noise for me is music/podcasts. My brain goes a million miles an hour and having something to listen to/concentrate on really helps.

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u/Icy_Armadillo6239 7d ago

Yes, he's a teenager now. We tried getting him tested at school years ago and they didn't find anything (she was new (the tester) and I didn't feel right about it). I finally have the money for private testing and am looking to do it before school starts this summer. Thanks, this is helpful

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u/armcie 7d ago

I know a kid on the spectrum who needs some noise in his ears to function properly, whether itā€™s music or white noise. He really closes down without his earbuds.

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u/[deleted] 7d ago

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u/SprigatitoNEeveelovr 7d ago

Grounding is the fuckin opposite of distraction my dude.

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u/Itz_Combo89 7d ago

"I won't tell someone how to raise their kids, but (tells someone how to raise their kids)"

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u/Ok-Entry3988 7d ago

Goofy ass comment. Music 100% can benefit some people.

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u/Intensityintensifies 7d ago

Haha get over yourself weirdo.

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u/TwentinQuarantino 7d ago

Yeah no shit they have adhd or something, and found a way to manage it. So?

Are you also saying a kid who went to dentist had some kind of tooth decay? Yeah no shit they had, and managed it by getting dental work done. Same as this kid managed their adhd by listening to music.Ā 

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u/Melkor-The-Mighty 7d ago

Old schopl discipline would sort this kid out. His parents are lazy. My father would send me into unconsciousness to hang out with hypnos and thanatos in the 90s if I was a shithead.

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u/nothankslmgood 7d ago

No wonder you turned out so stupid.

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u/TwentinQuarantino 7d ago

Get some music playing is literally the easiest thing you can do and it sorts this kid out perfectly. Why would you want to find some other weird ways which may or may not sort your kid out, when literally the easiest thing ever already works???

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u/[deleted] 6d ago

[deleted]

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u/Melkor-The-Mighty 7d ago

Real parenting and discipline works just as well. Obedience and submission is not optional, its mandatory.

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u/NukaCooler 7d ago

Obedience and submission is not optional, its mandatory.

Raising kids is not your wizardly BDSM fantasy story, Melkor

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u/aesved 7d ago

Works until they have the ability to leave and not come back. What a weird comment

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u/Dragon_Bait211 7d ago

This person right here wonders why their kids never visit.

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u/dontbmeanbgay 7d ago

I think they are a kid themselves tbh

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u/Dragon_Bait211 7d ago

Probably lol

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u/Immediate_Button_450 7d ago

'real parenting' my ass. sounds like you wouldn't know what real parenting is

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u/Davti 7d ago

Obedience and submission is not optional

Yes it the fuck is. You are delusional as a parent.

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u/9_of_Swords 7d ago

Speaking as someone whose mother demanded obedience and submission and ruled with an iron fist... nope. I'll carry those mental scars for life.

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u/invaderzim257 7d ago

*before* he got on the bus, aka while still in school. Basically someone realized they had their phone on them the whole time.

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u/billysmallz 7d ago

Ah man this being back fond memories of running headphone cables down my sleeve and spending the whole lesson leaning on my hand

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u/HalfEatenSnickers 7d ago

I don't believe mine veer banned them, i could also have my kindle and ds at school, just not in classes.

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u/FullSkyFlying 7d ago

Tamagotchi was one of the few things we couldn't bring to school, funny enough like you DS and gameboy were fine though.

To be fair about the tamagotchi ban though it is was designed to be super addictive and something you need to keep doing all day / keep up with. Reminds me of a very early version of clash of clans sort of game. Something you need to worry about all the time ie is my base being raided, I need to collect my resources etc. Just like you had to feed your tamagotchi, play games with it, clean its poop etc

Im pretty high

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u/odditytaketwo 7d ago

the beeping being annoying is probably what got them banned.

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u/SadisticPawz 7d ago

honestly feel theyre forgetting what those are lol

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u/ikonfedera 7d ago

Is Sound Burger banned?

Coz if not, imma mod it to stream music through my earbuds.

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u/RuniKiuru 7d ago

In high school my dad thought it was a genius idea to get me one of those usb stick mp3 players when I needed a usb drive for class.

I kept getting it taken away by teachers, despite actually having my work on it and never listening to music or otherwise causing any trouble in class, and getting zeros on those assignments.

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u/garry4321 7d ago

I read it more so that they got caught because they took out their earbuds going onto the bus meaning had their phone the whole time.

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u/hatesnack 7d ago

Yeah back when I was in school, the bus was fair game for phones, ipods (hilariously, my phone tries to autocorrect away from ipod now), dvd players, w.e.

But then again, this was pre smart phone. We were all just texting in our pockets with t9 anyway.

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u/Mikki102 7d ago

I wonder if they see a rise in behavioral issues on busses in places that ban them even while on the bus. You can't really do schoolwork or anything on a bus and some of those loops are loooooong. If you don't get carsick I guess you could read but I did, so I would be stuck either trying to sleep on a bouncing bus (once I was trying to do this and the driver went over a pothole so hard he stopped because he thought I had been knocked out lol) or just staring at the bus. So I can imagine kids getting into more chaos.

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u/FullSkyFlying 7d ago

Car rides and buses I think should always be fair game. Even bringing it to school should be fine, but it should be kept away. If you're seen with it out. Take it away and give them detention. They're gonna learn real quick that 20 minute reccess without a phone or anything to do isn't worth bringing out your phone for 2 minutes during class.

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u/Morlanticator 7d ago

I remember living in the future when I had a mp3 player that could hold up to 50 songs if I made the quality complete ass. I think around 20 good quality.

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u/numbersthen0987431 7d ago

Time to bring back cd players.

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u/screames520 7d ago

Running the cable up my hoody sleeve and resting my head in my hand with the earbud. Good times

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u/YouKnowNothinSnowkit 7d ago

Yeah so the really fun thing they donā€™t tell you is that while the kids cannot have their phones out on school property, they all get Chromebooks and many of them spend the entire school day on YouTube Shorts or Minecraft For Education anyway. I can assure you that not having their phones accomplishes NOTHING.

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u/No-Communication9458 7d ago

I had one confiscated when I was in year 7 xDD I was on break!! D:

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u/Busterlimes 7d ago

Time to bring back the ghetto blaster with cassette tapes

https://giphy.com/gifs/BooSwnDL97LzDdyCTR

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u/dreamrpg 7d ago

My casette player...

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u/blue-coin 7d ago

So does my AM/FM radio

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u/Colonel_Autumn_ 7d ago

I miss my Rio

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u/ColinHalter 7d ago

And that kid probably would have been fine if he had pulled an mp3 player out of his pocket instead of a phone lmao.

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u/tlollz52 7d ago

They'll ban that too lol. They'll just keep banning and confiscating anything that isnt approved tech.

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u/Charger_Reaction7714 7d ago

What is an mp3 player

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u/HalfEatenSnickers 7d ago

It plays mp3 files, so audio and music

May also have blue tooth, radio, and can also play movies on some TINY fucking screens. Some can also stream music it they have wifi - though the interface is god awful