Less screen time. More people time.

I’ve been reading about schools putting the brakes on student cell phone use. The Los Angeles Unified School District is rolling out a ban, and schools in Florida, Ohio, New York, and several other states are doing the same. The idea is simple: tuck the phones away during the school day. Early reports say it’s helping with fewer distractions, better focus, and even more old-fashioned talking face-to-face.

Sounds good, right? But let’s be honest, how would we adults handle it if our bosses told us to lock up our phones from nine to five? No peeking at messages, no scrolling between tasks, no quick cat video fix, or checking the score or the weather. Would we be twitching by lunchtime?

Maybe that’s the bigger lesson here. We’d all be better off with less scrolling time. Every time we grab the phone, we could use it to call someone instead—make their day brighter, check in with a friend, or spend that time with our kids. The truth is, the more we connect with each other and the less we connect with our screens, the better off we’ll all be.