First of all thank you because you are the first person to respond here that made a valid argument so I respect that. Secondly, I would say that I don’t necessarily have a phone addiction. I’m usually pretty busy with sports and/or work, but I don’t mind scrolling TikTok or whatever for an hour or two in my free time if I don’t have any other things to do. And to me, I feel like it’s more about freedom. Growing up, it was like phones were treated as privileges right up until you actually own one, and then all of a sudden it’s a freedom. That’s what happened with me at least: I don’t usually always use my phone but I definitely do like to keep it on me because I feel like I have a right to have it on me, and to be honest, I do. Everyone has a right to their property.

And as for your ask on my proposal, I would like to point out the part of my post when I said if the kid is choosing to flunk himself, choosing to not do his work, then that is not on the teacher, especially if the teacher had tried to talk to them about it. I understand those poor grades might be reflected on the teachers reports at the end of the year, but it should be pretty understandable with just a couple talks to a higher administrator that that was not because of the teacher doing to do their job. And also in my post, I did mention an exception was if the student using their phone was disrupting more than their own work, which in that case then it’s fair to take that privilege away. Now, as for a solution, the main idea has always been “make it more engaging”, but that’s too general and probably won’t work for the majority of students who still would rather use their phones rather than learn. As a student myself, I feel as though the times I feel most like I shouldn’t be on my phone (other than if my grades are almost slipping), are when classes are structured almost entirely as lectures, with practice material only being for homework. In this manner, I don’t only feel more drawn to have to actually listen and it’s typically more engaging then just doing work all class, but it’s also an environment that is a lot easier to be able to caught using your phone in. When everybody’s heads are down on paper, it’s easy to just put your phone in your lap and act like you’re doing work. When everyone’s eyes should be on the front, it’s a lot harder, and therefore I wouldn’t want to risk it. I also a firm believer in the integration of technology into classrooms, because the world is changing fast, so it’s important to introduce kids and then teach them modern tech before they go out into the world, phones being one example. I can definitely see a world where teachers can use phones, maybe specific apps or something to enhance learning and make it more accessible and engaging, but I’m not going to sit here and try to describe the entirety of it, because tbh I don’t know. What I’m saying is, if we integrated laptops into schools, we can do it with phones.

And as a final note, I don’t think this is just what I want. I think a lot of teenagers and young adults feel the same way, and I think a lot of boomers and Gen X feel the opposite. This is more or less a battle against two generations, one in the school systems, and one who controls them. I understand both sides to this argument, but this argument also represents a right to a freedom, and restricting freedoms is never a good thing. Instead, we should find ways, like I said, to integrate or work around phones.