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As a civil discourse specialist, I help teachers and students engage in respectful, truth-seeking discussions. Last fall, schools invited me to support conversations about the war in Gaza and the 2024 election, for instance.

But learning to practice civil discourse with such polarizing topics is difficult. Cellphone bans, however, offer an unusual opportunity for classroom discussions.

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For starters, they’re nonpartisan. Republican and Democratic governors alike have proposed strict restrictions on devices in K-12 classrooms. Furthermore, phones represent an authentic, shared concern: Anyone who has spent time near a smartphone is likely to have strong views about its pros and cons.

Indeed, Pew Research Center studies suggest that cellphone use is a high-interest topic for teachers as well as students. In surveys published last year, 72% of high school teachers identified cellphone distractions as “a major problem,” while 70% of teens noted

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