The experience I had was that they were banned until absolutely necessary. I remember in some of my first algebra classes, we were doing many repetitive equations by hand, when a calculator would be used in a real world scenario. I understand when and how it’s necessary to teach without the use of assistive tools first, so the fundamental understanding of a subject isn’t left out, I’m not of the opinion that should change.

The way the schools treat this stuff likely changes region to region, even school to school. I’m mainly speaking from my own experience, I don’t feel I got enough education about properly using assistive tools until later in high school, and even then there were a lot of things I found important that I had to learn on my own.

Honestly, I think there were definitely students where this was the right pace for them. I think this is one of the symptoms of needing to teach a classroom in a way that everybody can keep up. Those that understand material quicker end up getting frustrated, and using time repetitively instead of continued education. That’s not to say I have a viable solution, nor can I confirm this is a symptom of that.