Saying this is similar to saying "I won't fly 500 miles, flying is dangerous, I'd rather drive!"
The truth of the matter is that school shootings are still much rarer than the daily use of phones in school. Talk to a current middle/high school teacher. They will tell you that in most classes there are at least some kids on their phone the entire time, and there is nothing they can do about it. And those kids distract the ones around them.
Kids get "emergency" texts from home midday, and it turns out to be stuff like "I put your socks away for you".
They can't take the phone away anymore because if they do, a parent comes in making the same argument you did, or they accuse the school of theft.
A statewide ban of phones during class time would at least give the local administration and district some air cover in these cases to confiscate phones that are being used during class.
With (I assume) cell phone use prevalent in every single classroom in the nation that hasn't banned them, and school shootings a minuscule probability, "much rarer" is doing a lot of work here hah.
The truth of the matter is that school shootings are still much rarer than the daily use of phones in school. Talk to a current middle/high school teacher. They will tell you that in most classes there are at least some kids on their phone the entire time, and there is nothing they can do about it. And those kids distract the ones around them.
Kids get "emergency" texts from home midday, and it turns out to be stuff like "I put your socks away for you".
They can't take the phone away anymore because if they do, a parent comes in making the same argument you did, or they accuse the school of theft.
A statewide ban of phones during class time would at least give the local administration and district some air cover in these cases to confiscate phones that are being used during class.