Classrooms have always wrestled with outside distractions, from whispered notes to pocket radios, but the arrival of the smartphone transformed the scale of the issue. By the early 2000s, cell phones began appearing in schools worldwide, initially tolerated for emergencies but quickly becoming embedded in daily routines. With the growth of texting, social media, and mobile games, educators faced new challenges: how to balance access to digital tools with the need for focus, discipline, and in-person interaction. A ban on phones during school hours is often described using terms like digital distraction, attention economy, and learning environment. Research in fields such as cognitive science highlights how multitasking with devices can fragment concentration, while developmental psychology examines how constant connectivity shapes social skills and identity. The broader context also includes cyberbullying, screen addiction, and the role of technology in mental health. Historically, policies have shifted with each technological wave. Calculators once raised fears of dependency, laptops reshaped classrooms in the 2000s, and today’s smartphone ban proposals echo earlier debates about how much technology belongs in education. The question is less about one device and more about how schools define their role: places of uninterrupted learning, or spaces that integrate and regulate the digital tools students will inevitably use in adult life.