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There’s no debate that students shouldn’t be allowed a smartphone before high school, according to one expert. Why? The research—and New York Times best-selling author Jonathan Haidt—argue we’ve lost the play-based child because of the devices. But schools can help solve the problem.

It will take collective action among educators to reverse what society has instilled in our Gen Z students: childhoods dominated by smartphones, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt explained in a webinar hosted by District 91��Ƭistration.

“It’s a lonely existence now to be a child,” said Haidt, a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business and author of The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness.

Getting to the root of the issue

Undoing the damage smartphones have caused our youth is “amazingly easy,” said Haidt in last week’s webinar hosted by District 91��Ƭistration. If you’re the lone parent or teacher restricting smartphone use, your kids are going to feel isolated, Haidt argues. But if there’s social buy-in among educators and other adults, you’ll see tremendous progress and the beginning of a new societal norm.

There are four simple strategies leaders should advocate for to resolve their current collective action problems:

1. No smartphones before high school
2. No social media before 16
3. Smartphone-free schools
4. Promoting childhood independence and free play

“I don’t know why we’re debating this. Social media is incredibly inappropriate for minors,” said Haidt.

Educators used to think that students from poor families were at a disadvantage if they didn’t have a smartphone or a similar device. But it turns out, we had it backwards, Haidt contended. Kids from families with low socioeconomic status are spending much more time on their devices.

College-educated parents, even those who work in Silicon Valley, Hiadt added, enforce heavier restrictions for their children.

“People in the tech industry do not let their kids have this stuff,” said Haidt. “They know what it can do.”

Creating a phone-free school

The most effective smartphone policy is a strict policy. Flexible restrictions—such as allowing students to use phones between classes or at lunch—simply aren’t effective. In an from the National Education Association, teachers were asked to rate how disruptive smartphones were during instructional time. Teachers working in schools that store away the devices entirely had the fewest disruptions.

“You’re going to have ��ܲ�����support from your teachers and principals,” Haidt told the audience. Gen Z, too, isn’t in denial of the issue. Haidt said students will notice the positive effects of smartphone bans as early as 7th and 8th grades.

“What they’re most afraid of is being alone,” said Haidt. Educators will find that smartphone bans encourage students to engage with one another more during their free time in the hallways and at lunch.

The bottom line is that when adults step back, children step up, he adds. , an organization that advocates for childhood independence, is a great resource for educators to tap into to implement playful and phone-free programs in their schools.

“It’s not just about rolling back the phone-based childhood,” said Haidt. “We have to bring back the play-based childhood.”

You can access the full webinar for free by clicking a webinar.