For geriatric Millennial curmudgeons like myself, the notion of a ban on phones in the classroom is only interesting from the perspective of great surprise that phones would be allowed in the classroom in the first place.

What for? I ask some young people. They claim - and why doubt them - that their peers will order from Shein and Amazon in class time.

Phones are useful for recording teachers they dislike, on the off chance sir or miss says something amiss.  Young people are used to be being contactable at all times and so they must have a phone in case their friend needs to know why Rebecca got a row in double maths earlier or their mum needs to know what they want for dinner.

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There doesn't seem to be much academic application for personal phones but, in fact, some schools claim there are. Those afraid of looking like dreadful old Luddites say phones are an integral part of adult life and so young people must be raised to use them responsibly, not put them away.

One head teacher of a fee-paying school argued in the Times that: "All the harms and distractions that technology presents inside school exist outside it," which is an interesting argument.

There are plenty of harms and distractions outwith schools but staff generally do their level best to keep them outside.  Scotland's fee-paying schools are often trotted out as leading the way in the debate but Glasgow Gaelic School has been at the forefront of the argument too.

Headteacher Gillian Campbell-Thow first spoke to the Times newspaper in July about the decision to ban phones at certain times in classrooms.

She told the paper that pupils are more inclined to talk to each other and to read. She said. “It has enabled the school to build up relationships with pupils and parents.”

Mrs Campbell-Thow featured on a Radio 4 debate about it too, and this week in The Herald said that pupils were in support of a ban, having voted for it.

This might be surprising but why? Teenagers aren't idiots. They know about the concerns around mobile phone use, particularly its direct line to social media and the ease with which phones, photos and video recordings are used in bullying. 

Similarly, there's much dispute about the pros and cons of school uniform. I don't take a strong position either way but I do know that my school life would have been miserable without school uniform as a levelling factor so, bias admitted, I'm not convinced they are a bad thing.

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One of the framings of the school clothing debate is that imposing a uniform is a way of "controlling" children, which is inflammatory and hyperbolic. 

The state of childhood is a state of submitting to control: from cleaning your teeth to bedtime to wearing what your parents buy you. But there's a parallel in the arguments because, if having the "right" clothing is a pressure that makes uniforms a benefit, having the latest mobile phone must be a gruesome burden, given the cost of the things. 

And the cost of the things is another reason not to expect schools to take control of them. Confiscating items means being responsible for items. Having to look after hundreds of electronic devices worth as much as or more than £1000 would be a headache no teacher wants. 

Mrs Campbell-Thow points out that phones are no longer solely about communication but also are a one stop shop of useful functions - some pupils have Apple Pay or their bank cards linked to their phones.

Most will have their free under-22 bus passes now but those who don't - or who take the train - are likely to have mobile ticketing apps on their phones. An outright ban where devices are left at home would cause outrage over this loss of convenience. 

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There was an interesting letter to the Guardian from a woman with autism saying that she uses reading books on an app on her phone to help keep calm when she becomes overstimulated and so removing mobiles would be particularly detrimental to autistic learners who do similar.

It highlights how dependent on phones we have become. Many things now - travelling through airports, going to the theatre - are almost impossible without smartphones for tickets.

But it is possible for a young person to carry a book in their schoolbag. It is possible to carry a bank card or cash. Certain local authorities, such as Glasgow, have iPads for all pupils and so they are not missing out on the easy access to the internet's trove of materials. 

So many of the things we absolutely balk at have very easy workarounds but we are raised now on convenience so we become indignant at it. Yet a modicum of inconvenience is no bad thing. 

The Scottish Government is considering a ban on phones in schools but, given the many facets to the arguments, it might be best to take the easy way out and leave it to individual schools.

Again, teenagers aren't idiots. As with the Gaelic school, let them decide.