Manta - I couldn’t agree more - and interested to note you work in tech, as the smartphone ban seems commonplace with the Silicon Valley techies for their own children..
This is about schools banning smartphones completely on site, not just having them put away in lockers etc - ie a real change in the normal phone ban policies that have been in place across schools to date - and the result of schools taking these steps is that it is more likely parents won’t buy a smartphone for home use, far less likely that those who don’t have an ‘out of school’ smartphone will be socially isolated as they will no longer be a minority, less chance of being mugged on the common for devices, less at risk of all the hazards that come with social media access etc etc etc..
I am very sure many more schools will adopt this stance over the next year and the debates in government that have been taking place over the last few mths suggest more significant changes in government policy to protect our children are likely too.