Kids should be able to bring phones to school and use them during lunch and other free times. If Kids make plans during school to hang out with friends or to stay after school and work on homework. Kids that play sports also have practice after school and sometimes practice is cancelled or moved to a different time.

With a phone, kids can send a quick text to their parents and quickly call them and ask if they can do something after school or tell them about the practice change. Without a phone, kids have to track down a teacher and ask them to use their phone to call. They have to type in the code so that they can call out of the school district. That takes up extra time, and teachers don't always allow kids to use their phone.

Some kids walk to school. If it's a winter morning there may be ice on the ground. A kid walking to school might slip on the ice and fall and hurt themselves. If they have a phone with them they can call up their parents asap and get help. If they don't have a phone, they might have to sit or lay on the cold icy ground until someone finds them. Kids also have friends in other schools.

Kids like to keep in touch, so they text each other. If kids didn't have phones during their free time at school they would barely get to talk to their friends from other school. 8 hours at school, then 1 hour 30 minutes or 2 hours at practice if they play sports (most kids play sports), then homework which could take awhile, plus eat dinner and shower and get sleep. Where do you text in that schedule?

I understand that having phones at school can cause kids to text during class, which is bad. They can make kids put them in baskets, on the teacher's desk, or make them leave it in their locker to prevent texting in class. Making kids leave their phones at school can make a big mess. Kids would always be complaining. Kids that transfer schools may become depressed because they can't talk to their old friends. Parents would be complaining because it would be harder to contact their kid or kids. Kids get picked up after school, and parents normally tell them who is picking them up. If something changes and someone else is picking them their parents have to call the office, give them all the details, have them find you, and then give you the message about who's picking you up. If kids were allowed phones, the parent could have quickly sent a text. The kid would have got the message during a free time, making it a lot easier. Kids should definitely be able to have phones at school during their free times.

Texting during free times isn't going to hurt anything, or anyone. So why should you take it away? Having phones can help keeps kids social. It will also help them stay occupied and stay out of trouble. I think kids should have phones during lunch and other free times, do you?