In recent years, many schools around the world have introduced rules that keep phones away during the school day. Some students think this is unfair. I am in ninth grade, and I believe that a phone ban during school hours is a good idea, as long as it is done in a sensible way.
My first reason is concentration. When a phone is on the desk, even on silent, it is hard not to look at it. A single message can pull your attention away from a maths problem, and it takes time to get back to it. In lessons without phones, I notice that I understand more and finish my work faster.
My second reason is the break. Before our school's new rule, many students spent the break staring at screens, sitting next to each other without talking. Now the yard is noisy again. People play soccer, talk and laugh. I have even made two new friends, simply because we had to talk to each other.
Of course, there are good arguments on the other side. Parents want to reach their children in an emergency, and phones can be useful learning tools, for example for looking up information or filming a science experiment. These points are fair, but there are answers to them. Students can keep their phones in a locker and call home from the school office. Teachers can also allow phones for a specific activity and then collect them again.
A phone is a wonderful tool, but it is not always the right tool. School is a place for learning and for people. For a few hours a day, I think we can put our phones away and look up: at the board, and at each other.