[mapierce2]

I don't see a more elegant solution than this, but it's a bummer. Smartphones are so useful; the world's information AND a computer in your pocket! The ideal would be to give students and parents an avenue to remove/combat the addictive elements of their smartphones, but most students (and parents) don't see those elements as a problem, but a feature.

[horeszko]

I view smart phones as two dimensional.

On one dimension they are a tool (like a Sheika Slate in Zelda).

On the other dimension they are a toy.

The problem for schools is that the tool and the toy are packaged together.

A further problem is that smartphones are consumer electronic devices, so businesses will strive to make them as addictive as possible and are unlikely to support creating some kind of separation between toy and tool.

So I agree that a ban is probably the best solution at this point. A ban with legal backing so schools can focus on education and not combating distraction.

[mapierce2]

> A ban with legal backing so schools can focus on education and not combating distraction.

Teaching how to combat distraction should maybe be a part of modern education.

But yeah you're quite right. Optimistically I'm hoping non-toy smartphones (like Light Phone, BoringPhone, WisePhone, etc) gain some market share.

[xwdv]

We did just fine in schools before smartphones. Perhaps even better.

[MisterTea]

Another thing to think about is how these things obliterate creativity - In school If I was bored I would doodle in the back of my notebooks during class. Drawings of things, places, trying to do nature scenes. But mostly drawings of machinery, robots and electronics nonsense. Towards senor year when I learned some programming it was code. Those little ephemera works feel important - exercises of the mind, creativity.

Contrast that to mindless consumption of corporate controlled media channels which is what smart phones inevitably lead to.

Think about how these mega companies are making billions of dollars by robbing your children's attention thus their education right in front of you. 100% ban the phones.

[spicymapotofu]

Do you mean to imply that education outcomes are unrelated to technology or that advancing technology may make them worse? Do you think there's a defensible abstraction of your claim?

We also did "just fine, if not better" in my role at the bank (vaguely) before digitization. I assure you, the efficiency upgrades of advancing technology pay for themselves many times over, even if there are hiccups and new learning to match.

Phones enable more education than ever before. The limiting factor is now motivation.