[ronsor]

Whether those things are distractions depends on what they're used for.

I'm fairly certain schools had projectors a few decades ago, and nothing bad came of it.

You don't really need to ban phones from schools; just ban them in class. I don't know why this stuff is treated as such a big deal. Students should pay attention in class, which means not using anything (not devices, paper, books, etc.) except as needed for instruction.

[hamper653]

Phones should be banned from children’s lives altogether. They have no benefit for them, only harm.

[ronsor]

Yes, yes, we've heard that about books, radio, film, television, and game consoles. I'll put your complaint in the queue.

[hamper653]

> books, radio, film, television, and game consoles

None of these tools is designed for the sole purpose of interacting with random people on the internet.

A child can get all the potential benefits of a phone from books, radio, film, television and game consoles — all the while not interacting with random people on the internet.