Gen Z: a generation defined by on-demand smartphone access. Nearly half of Gen Z students say they are online "almost constantly," leaving everyone, especially educators, wondering what impact the prevalence of technology has had on students’ lives and will have on their futures.

As teen suicide rates surged in La Plata County, Colo., Mountain Middle School decided to ban cell phones on campus. The school has been phone-free for seven years, and administrators say the ban has encouraged students to talk to each other and focus more clearly.

A new app called Goya can dramatically reduce the amount of smartphone distractions in the classroom, but parents have to play an active role, its founders say. Goya, an acronym that stands for "Get Off Your Apps," lets parents disable apps on their child's device during specific hours of the day.

Tonåringars dagliga interaktioner i skolmiljö undersöks med hjälp av en mobilapplikation. Undersökningarna görs inom projektet REBOOT vid ämnet utvecklingspsykologi vid Åbo Akademi i Vasa och lägger särskilt fokus på mobbning och utanförskap.

Skärmarnas negativa effekter diskuteras ofta i debatten. Det som inte får lika stor uppmärksamhet är frågan om hur vi kan använda skärmarnas beteendepåverkande belöningssystem för att uppnå önskvärda beteenden i exempelvis vården och skolan. Det skriver forskaren Marina Arkkukangas.

Mobiltelefoner i klassrummet väcker känslor. Regeringen har pratat om förbud. Fel, tycker forskaren och läraren Anita Gricic Magnusson. I stället tipsar hon om hur du kan använda telefonerna i undervisningen.

Students at a California high school during class are storing their phones in special pouches designed to help limit digital distractions. Teachers say the method, implemented this year, limits their policing of classroom phone use.

Digital tools that students use for learning also can provide some of their biggest distractions. In this commentary, author Ana Homayoun shares how to help students manage these digital distractions by supporting their intrinsic motivation to make better decisions -- online and in the real world.

What statement best describes your attitude about cellphones in schools?

Research supports the benefits of learning to be bored versus spending time looking at a screen, according to this blog post.

If smartphones are harming our ability to focus, how should teachers change their methods to give children the skills they need?

Schools that allow students to access cellphones have lower rates of cyberbullying than those that ban the devices, according to data from the US Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics. Overall, however, data show an uptick in incidents of cyberbullying in schools.