Well looking objectively, i think you are right that in many ways our young peoples development is stunted. However, it is difficult to ignore that a smart mobile phone gives access to so much information, literally at ones fingertips. Preliminary research on just about any topic can be done in seconds. The downfall is kids (and some adults) walking along constantly looking at their phone and not where they are going, assuming everything found on a phone is gospel and not getting to explore more traditional avenues of research such as books, libraries. I have noticed that most seem to be in some ways out of touch with reality, preferring to watch fantasy films, comic book super heroes and playing games where characters dying (normally a violent bloody death) seem to get up and start again endlessly. Technology is great but .......have we come too far?

My step daughter has a phone which she needs at school as they pay for there meals at school using it (all cashless now and on an app). same applies to school reports, notices from school, reporting absence, it's all done by phone or computer. Not sure how they stop them using phones during lessons, I will have to ask her, but I think they probably surrender the phone on entering a classroom (turned off) and collect on exit.