Pocket worthyStories to fuel your mind

Do Smartphones Belong in Schools?

Device bans in schools are meant to protect young minds from being “forever elsewhere.” But some teachers are concerned by the potential for a different kind of distraction.

Pocket Collections

Amy Maoz

Read when you’ve got time to spare.

Image by skynesher / Getty Images

Students Can’t Get off Their Phones. Schools Have Had Enough.

Donna St. George

The Washington Post

Administrators see them as an intensifying distraction — or, worse, a tax on students’ mental health.

Get Phones Out of Schools Now

Jonathan Haidt

The Atlantic

They impede learning, stunt relationships, and lessen belonging. They should be banned.

Banning Phones in Class? Not So Fast

Erica Berry

WIRED

From September 2022: Tech dependence is following many students back to school—but waging a war against devices helps no one.

THE GROWING MOVEMENT: ‘Luddite’ Teens Don’t Want Your Likes

Alex Vaukul

The New York Times

From December 2022: When the only thing better than a flip phone is no phone at all.

‘Much Easier to Say No’: Irish Town Unites in Smartphone Ban for Young Children

Rory Carroll

The Guardian

Parents and schools across Greystones adopt voluntary ‘no-smartphone code’ in bid to curb peer pressure.

What’s the Right Age to Get a Smartphone?

Kelly Oakes

BBC

From September 2022: Smartphones have become near-universal among children, with up to 91% of 11-year-olds owning one. But do children miss out without a phone – or experience surprising benefits?