Educators are between a rock and a hard place when it comes to technology in the classroom—especially smartphones and social media. They are under pressure to use educational technology to make assignments and materials readily available, communicate with parents, distribute information, create engaging content for students, provide support, and facilitate learning activities. They are also faced with the challenges of technology when social media invades and disrupts the classroom. The challenges are real, and there is a rising demand for restrictions and bans from teachers, parents, and policymakers as a solution.

Banning devices might seem like a “safety first” approach, but it doesn’t address the out-of-school digital activities and socializing that originate online and migrate onto campus. It is unrealistic to expect kids to forego their primary source of social connection. Multiple studies show that increasing kids’ critical thinking skills and self-efficacy is much more likely to result in self-regulation than prohibitions. Here are some tips from educators about how they approach smartphones and social media use at school that can impact how kids use technology when they walk out the classroom door.

There is no magic boundary separating the physical world from the digital. In our recent survey of 90 primarily middle school educators, 87% reported that social media activities outside school impacted what happened in the classroom. The most common theme was that online behaviors, like bullying, trash-talking, and the drama around “who’s in and who’s out,” followed the kids to school, causing hurt feelings and conflict.

This drama is normal (and expected) for tweens and teens. Starting in middle school, kids naturally become more socially focused as part of healthy development. They begin to undergo physical, cognitive, social-emotional, and psychological changes. These changes are called “development” for a reason. They happen over time, not smoothly all........

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