I think you nailed it. If it's debit and someone gets the number and wipes out your account, you're the loser, the bank is not responsible.
What's alarming is the amount of control they have and how easily and quickly they can implement it.
If they can do it......
My kids are in some respects, children of technology. They use their debit cards without hesitation. I don't have one. I encourage them to use only cash but they just roll their eyes and make excuses.
Besides, when you see the cash leave your hand, it's going to put a bigger brake on the spending than constantly debiting everything.
I have a check card from my bank. I never use it as a debit card, I only process it as a credit card via Visa. It’s still debited from my checking account, but Visa processes it and that gives me the same fraud protections as a regular credit card.