Let us begin by acknowledging that this is a more complicated issue than many people make it out to be.

That said: as a general rule, we believe that phones should be put aside during class time.

Now, we have been out of school for some number of years, so we don’t want to make a blanket statement here because we can easily imagine some class subjects where integrating phones into the coursework brings benefits as opposed to detriments.

We suspect those would be the exception, however, and not the rule.

And, of course, there needs to be an understanding of the real world, beyond the realms of the school district. We remember teachers scolding us for using calculators for math work, because “you won’t always have a calculator in your pocket.”

Look at how that turned out.

That all being said, phones represent a nigh-infinite amount of distraction, and school ultimately is to learn, not to surf the net or post on social media.

Phones can be powerful tools for learning and exploration, with most of the knowledge of mankind at our fingertips with but a few keystrokes.

However, as the joke goes, most people would prefer to use them for cat pics.

As Keystone Central School District continues to consider the thorny debate about whether phones should be allowed — or to what degree — our stance is that, barring the aforementioned possibilities for synergistic coursework, phones should be stashed while in the classroom.

If kids want to use their phones while on recess or lunch, or even just in the hallway, we have little problem with that.

One of the most common avenues of pushback — in favor of keeping phones in the kids’ hands — is concern over school shootings or other emergency situations.

Let us be clear that this is a valid concern, and one reason we disagree with forcing kids to leave their phones at home or keep them in their lockers.

We feel that in the event of an emergency, kids will be able to access their phones quickly enough by retrieving them from the classroom’s stash to respond to the threat — while also maintaining a higher standard of learning the 99.9% of the time when there is not an emergency.

Beyond needing to focus on that higher standard of learning — and we all know that our local school districts are not exactly the most effective in the state, so whatever help they can get is significant — we feel it is also important for kids to learn the critical skill of knowing when to put the phone down.

Some jobs allow for phone use during the work-day. Most, we would hazard, do not.

By refusing to teach kids — beyond reading, math, history and science — the importance of a good work ethic, our schools do a disservice to future generations of employees and the local businesses which rely upon them.

Again — not in class? No problem. But during active instruction, students should be expected to put in the work.

We also want to note that, although some jobs allow for phone use during the work-day, we do not feel teachers should be one of them.

Hopefully, most teachers are ahead of the curve and are not themselves using their phones during class time.

Beyond their roles as course instructors, teachers are critical role-models. If the teacher is idly scrolling on their phone while expecting the students to be working, that sends the students two messages:

— That the teacher is not invested in the students and their work; and

— That once you are an adult in a similar situation, it is acceptable behavior.

More than most professions we can think of, teachers have an outsized impact on our collective future. Year after year, class after class, teachers are paying their lives forward, and, in the best (and unfortunately worst) cases are leaving life-long impacts on kids who will one day mature into our next generation of adults — some of whom will become teachers themselves, repeating the cycle.

We urge teachers at Keystone — and other surrounding districts — to be tomorrow’s change, today. If you aren’t already, please put the phone down during class time, regardless of what the district ends up mandating in terms of policy.

Over time, with patience and understanding, at least some of the students may follow your example on their own.

Obviously, kids will be kids. For as much as older folks like to say that they went through school without phones just fine, lord knows they had their own fair share of distractions and chaotic tendencies. And, of course, nothing will ultimately stop a student from zoning out during a subject which is particularly disinteresting to them.

But what we can do is give them the best shot we can. Ultimately, school is about building a foundation more than anything else. Everyone finds topics they love and topics they dread. It’s just part of growing up.

Building a foundation of strong ethics — including work ethic — is perhaps more impactful than any individual subject.

That ethic begins by restricting the object with arguably the greatest potential for distraction humanity has ever known.