Walk into nearly any American school this fall and you’ll see a striking trend: phones are gone. Locked pouches. Classroom baskets. Outright bans. Three out of four U.S. public schools now prohibit nonacademic cellphone use, and many states are encouraging or requiring restrictions.

On the surface, that sounds like progress. In reality, we’re confusing removal with real teaching.

Technology isn’t going anywhere — it’s accelerating. It’s the world our children will live, learn, and work in. While U.S. schools strip devices from students’ hands, other countries are doing something different: they teach kids to use technology wisely — building boundaries, digital literacy, and healthy tech habits into the curriculum. If we don’t do the same, we risk graduating a generation that’s digitally

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