[bryanlarsen]

As a parent of a 9th grader in one of the plaintiff school districts, there is certainly a massive difference between grade 8 and grade 9. In grade 8 their school was very good at ensuring phones stayed in the locker during school time. In grade 9, phones are allowed in class. Nominally it's only for school stuff (Google Classroom, spelling, translation, etc.), but...

[mynameisash]

My 10th grade son struggles with his mental health (which was the case before he ever had access to devices). When he hit 9th grade, he was able to do nearly anything on his school-issued Chromebook. Mostly, he was spending all day every day watching YouTube videos, falling far behind on schoolwork. I asked the school to block YT and Discord. They did, but only after explaining that they believe high school students should be able to make those choices for themselves.

[vundercind]

School devices coming home that the parents can’t manage is a real problem. A very dumb problem, but a real one.

[neom]

Wow! That's insane to me. I feel bad for parents these days. A dude I work with who has a teenage son told me his son has a full on nervous breakdown every time he takes the phone away for a period of time, like temper tantrum style. I can safely say when I was in high school, if I was allowed to make "good choices for myself", I'd have been a full time donut eating, irc'ing recluse who never socialized and didn't know what exercise is. As it was I was already half of that despite the best efforts of my mother, who at the time I hated, and in retrospect I'm very grateful for. Wasn't easy for my mom with the internet becoming a thing in the 90s and me being an internet addict, but she did her best... I cannot imagine what it's like for parents today, I do genuinely feel for them. Good luck to you, seems like you're looking out for your kid, so kudos.

[nradov]

Some of my children's teachers use educational YouTube videos in class or as part of homework assignments.