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My sibling teaches and said the parents told the school unequivocally "no" when they tried. Main reason is they want to be able to easily reach their children when picking up or in an emergency (like a shooting).
It’s sad that helicopter parenting has become so normalized that this excuse would seem reasonable to people.
How are either of those related to helicopter parenting?
> easily reach their children when picking up

School busses should be taking care of this; parents should not be acting as kids' personal limo driver.

> or in an emergency (like a shooting).

There exist systems that should be taking care of communicating the status of students in an emergency scenario. Obviously they're not perfect, but having a personal direct line to your child at all times is not a reasonable solution IMO.

A lot of urban schools don’t provide school buses for most students, and/or rely on city public buses with safety issues. So the cars around at first/last bell are still pretty dense. I totally agree though, and would never pick an elementary/middle school not within walking distance.

I could see the value later (my kid is 7) of a feature or watch phone for after/before school emergencies, like if they have activities after school or are walking home on their own. Of course, disable during school hours, a lot of phones support that via parental controls these days (but you still have to allow 911, although not a bad compromise).

Your opinions do not make these things "helicopter parenting"

> There exist systems that should be taking care of communicating the status of students in an emergency scenario

How is the school going to know the status of all students in an active shooter situation?

Phones in school aren't a problem if you, as a parent, teach proper use and enforce rules. The school can help here too.