I agree with banning smartphones during classes. They are incredibly distracting and I know i didn’t understand the real value of that free education until well after I had graduated.
I also think less dependence on social media for staying in touch and communicating could help reduce loneliness and some of the depression and anxiety some people face. If we are less connected at our fingertips to people, we are more inspired to see and connect with them in person, which in my experience is more fullfilling.
Phones were always banned in my classes. I don’t know why anybody expected smartphones to be allowed.
If even during an activity where concentration isn’t necessary they can distract, just ban them. The cinema is a good example they are bright, somebody always forgets to turn off the sound, and while you look up who that actor is or whatever, you miss part of the movie. In school, even if you decided to look something up related to what the teacher is saying, you’d lose track of what they were saying while looking it up.