No phones or SM accounts for kids till they turn 18. Yes, there's a "fear" of being an outcast but they work their way around that quickly and if they have other things to spend time on, they'll be fine. The "need" for social media is mostly FOMO.
Do you have kids in double digits?
Our senior schools (from age 11, "6th grade" in US term) literally mandate a phone (not a computer, an actual phone) for school, both to use in class and to receive homework assignments.
That's ok, they can borrow a parent's phone.
In class though?
I'd be very concerned if a school relied on a smart phone even for class work.
Yes. I have kids. I'm not in the US. My kids school sends homework using an app. I get it on my phone, take printouts etc. and my kids get the work done.
No phones period is stupid. Just get them a jitterbug or a startac
We have a basic feature phone at home which they take if they're going out just to stay in touch/emergencies etc. They don't have phones unsupervised at all times.