> Not allowing kids to use smartphones during class is a huge difference than not allowing them at all in school
Learning how to put down their phones while socializing and working will probably be more valuable to these students, in the long run, than scoring a few extra minutes of Instagram. It isn't like they can't use their phones once off campus.
> Learning how to put down their phones while socializing and working
How many years do kids spend in school? And how long do you think it takes to learn how to do that? Surely not more than one year.
Arguments of the form "They need to learn how to behave in later life, therefore they should spend 12 years behaving that way" are wrong. (The conclusion may be correct, but the reasoning is not.) Given that it takes only x years to learn that, the question is whether it's worth having them behave that way in the remaining 12-x years.
Learning how to put down their phones while socializing and working will probably be more valuable to these students, in the long run, than scoring a few extra minutes of Instagram. It isn't like they can't use their phones once off campus.