[janef0421]

I find this trend of opposing and banning smartphones reductive. Smartphones are just a tool, like any other, and can be used productively or unproductively. In my view, most of the unproductive use comes from the corporate apps and platforms that are designed to maximise profit for their owners, rather than being useful to the user. I think it would be more valuable to teach teenagers how to use smartphones in an intentional and productive manner, rather than banning them.

[tsol]

> Smartphones are just a tool, like any other, and can be used productively or unproductively.

Are you allowed to carry any tool you want in school? If it has a real reason to be used in school then sure, but that's not the case for most student.

[ratg13]

If you don't have any control over the devices, you're fighting an uphill battle to control the students.

There are more students than teachers, and students are more likely to take cues from other students rather than teachers.

Leaving students to their own devices and hoping they make the right decisions would be an exercise in futility for class sizes over 15ish students.

[janef0421]

I don't think trying to control students is the right idea. Teenagers are their own people with their own values and desires. You aren't going to be able to have a productive relationship with them unless you respect that, and I think the failure to do so is at the root of a lot of the problems we see. Of course, that goes far beyond phones.