I personally think that responsible smartphone use should be learned and practiced, rather than outright banning them.
I think this shows that adults are terribly addicted to their devices and think if they can’t stop using them, children won’t either. They certainly can’t teach how to use phones responsibly if they can’t do it themselves. Unfortunately for children the result is an outright ban.
Kids don’t know what is interesting until they encounter it. I didn’t know Calculus was awesome until I was in a place to understand it, for instance. School opened my eyes to many interesting things that I would have had no clue about otherwise.
Smartphones are a major problem in schools. They are highly addictive and distract students to a high degree. An young developing mind (which some adults seem to forget about) has less control over addictions and such than a fully developed mind. Adults recognize they are addicted to their phones. Kids are also addicted, but it’s a bigger problem because it is hampering their learning.
I taught in the public high schools in Canada. Phones are a major fucking problem and kids would rather Snapchat/play stupid games/or look at Instagram than do just about anything else.