I think there were some interesting themes in this article, so, going through them one by one, here is what I think of the themes among student answers.

– Many students argued that bans are ineffective because teenagers will always find a workaround.

I think that this is valid. The bans have valid reasons – more social opportunity, better focus in class, etc. But people who don’t know or care about these reasons will in fact work around the bans. You can be as strict as you want, but people will always find a way to work around it. 

– Others pointed out that school-issued laptops and iPads have become just as distracting as phones.

This is also a good point, and it ties into #1. You can’t ban school computers if you want kids to be able to work during their free time, and therefore the computers will always be there as a distraction or social deterrent of some sort. 

– However, some students admitted that despite the annoyance, the bans actually improved their focus and social lives.

I think this can work, only if students see the point in the bans. Like I have made clear, there is no way to ban a distraction effectively. Kids will only get the social benefits if they buy into it, and only once they realize that phones are a distraction harming their ability to socialize will they put the phones away and get the social benefits. 

– A major theme was safety: Many students feel anxious being cut off from their parents in an era of school emergencies.

Yea, they do, and this is yet another reason why phone bans don’t work. Kids have motives to keep it in their pockets.

– Finally, students suggested that education and moderation are better solutions than prohibition.

I completely agree with this, and if I ran a school, this is what I would do. I think that until kids fully understand and agree with the core motives behind the phone bans, it never works, so instructing kids about why phones should not be a part of school is better than banning them without apparent reason. 

HOW THE PHONE BAN HAS WORKED AT HACKLEY

I think that the phone ban has been moderately successful in its goals. People use their phones yes, but they use them to play games with others, not escape or isolate themselves. I think this is pretty cool, phones in school are great (granted, not during if they bring us closer together as opposed to tear us apart.