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By Amy Zimmer, Chalkbeat
New York City, the nation’s largest school system, is considering a plan to ban cellphones in its roughly 1,600 schools starting in February, according to several principals briefed on the possible policy.
Schools would have to come up with their own policies, principals told Chalkbeat, whether they collect devices at the start of the day or have students carry their phones in Yondr pouches, cloth cases for phones that are locked with a magnet from morning to dismissal.
Even though such systems can be pricey, school leaders don’t expect to receive extra money in their budgets, principals said, according to the plans shared with them. The principals spoke on the condition of anonymity since they were not authorized to speak to the media.
When asked to confirm the preliminary plans, Department of Education spokesperson Nathaniel Styer wrote, “No decisions have been made yet!”
For collecting phones, schools might need to buy cubbies or other storage equipment, plus they need staffing. (Some school leaders have wanted to steer clear of collecting phones, worried about liability issues for lost devices.) Yondr pouches cost about $25 to $30 per student, with pricing varying depending on school size, a company spokesperson previously told Chalkbeat.
Schools Chancellor David Banks has been talking with principals across the five boroughs about cellphones, and said that they overwhelmingly want a citywide policy. Gov. Kathy Hochul is also planning to announce a statewide school cellphone policy this year.
School leaders have been able to set their own cellphone policies since 2015, when former Mayor Bill de Blasio lifted the school cellphone ban largely due to equity issues: Students in schools with metal detectors, which largely serve low-income families, were forced to pay local businesses $1 a day or more to store their phones before they entered school.
Nearly 10 years ago, however, cellphones were not as ubiquitous, especially for younger kids, and teens weren’t glued to social media apps like Instagram and TikTok. They didn’t have easy-to-hide AirPods. And their parents weren’t calling their kids as often.
As a result, the city’s schools have a patchwork of policies that many teachers say are difficult to enforce. Educators at schools where phones are already collected or put in pouches say those systems are not foolproof, but they at least appreciate the clear message to students. At schools with a cellphone ban on paper, teachers say the onus is on them to enforce, and enforcement can vary classroom to classroom, leading to confusion among students.
A growing chorus of educators, experts, and politicians have been raising the alarm more recently about the negative impacts of cellphones on youth mental health and how they take away from learning time. A growing number of school districts are banning cellphones, including Los Angeles, the nation’s second largest district, which has until January to implement a new policy.
One principal voiced concern about New York City’s possible February timeline, worried that starting a major new policy midyear could prove challenging to implement. But this principal also said there wasn’t enough time to implement a ban by September.
“The amount of money it takes to successfully collect, secure, and distribute around 700 phones every day is staggering,” a school administrator said in response to a Chalkbeat survey about cellphones.
Before this school collected phones, the administrator said, teachers were consumed with battles over keeping phones from disrupting class time. Administrators were spending an inordinate amount of time responding to cellphone issues. Student conflicts that the school previously could have mediated were instead being inflamed by social media.
But the administrator warned that students’ addictive connections to their devices could create conflict when they are forced to surrender or get back their phones each day. The system requires a coordinated approach and an empathetic staff who can de-escalate charged emotions.
Deborah Alexander, a parent leader who sits on the Citywide Council for High Schools, said her parent board recently met with Education Department officials, and she shared her views against a cellphone ban.
She understands why parents are in favor of a ban in theory, but she fears that enacting a ban will prove problematic. Many schools already ban phones, she said, and the remedy on the books — to confiscate a student’s device — would be the same with a citywide ban. (Several educators told Chalkbeat they are told not to touch students’ devices.)
Alexander wondered whether schools would have the staffing to collect and hand out, or pouch and unlock, phones as kids come and go throughout the day. She asked who will pay for lost or broken phones. She fears that equity issues might arise at schools with affluent PTAs that can make up for budget gaps created by cellphone policy costs.
She asked about exceptions: phones used to monitor health conditions or as translation devices, for instance. Parents might be surprised, she said, when their children have to arrive at school half an hour earlier and leave half an hour later because of cellphone storage or pouches.
“Kids will be that much more glued to phones the second they walk out of school,” Alexander wrote in an email. “And when they walk in, according to tons of teens I’ve spoken to, they’ll be reminded that they can’t be trusted; that they’re guilty before they’ve done anything wrong, much like when they enter schools through metal detectors.”
Amy Zimmer is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat New York. Contact Amy at azimmer@chalkbeat.org.
Michael Elsen-Rooney is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Michael at melsen-rooney@chalkbeat.org.
Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.
A cellphone ban would work in schools where all students are picked up, dropped off by school buses or relatives or drive themselves to school. However students who own cellphones mostly use public transit to get to school and if there is an emergency or need for communication, it is difficult when we got rid of the payphones in favor of LinkNYC kiosks which are used as a de facto homeless community center where the homeless go watch porn and do drugs.
The plan would provide for the cellphones to be turned in at school, so children who take public transportation can have their phones while traveling to and from school and once they arrive at the building will “turn in” their phone.
I take it you don’t currently have children in a NYC public school?
As far as the LinkNYC kiosks, most of the homeless are citizens as well, last I checked.
Phones are not banned inside the schools. They are either collected by the school or each child is provided a pouch that is locked when they arrive at school and unlocked when they leave. If there is an emergency, the push can be unlocked. My daughter’s school is starting the pouches this year and I am thrilled.
Tom Gulotta, that’s why, they are looking for solutions to collect the cell phones during the school day. Nobody needs their phone while in class. And if your mom needs to tell you to go somewhere else when school gets out she can text you whenever and you’ll read that text at the end of the day when you pick up your phone.
There was a cottage industry of convenience stores who would store cell phones for a fee near schools when Bloomberg banned cell phones in schools. No need to go back to that.
I do not currently have a kid in school, but I’m in favor of the ban based on my experience with my grandkids. But, BIG but, why does it have to be so complex? Keep phones out of kids hand in classrooms, not necessarily at lunch, recess, etc. Put a basket on the teacher’s desk. Every student must put their phone in the basket at the beginning of the period and get it back at the end of class. Why do we have to spend money on “technology” in order to limit “technology.”
good idea, but the BIG problem would be to enforce the rule. students don’t always do what they are told!
It works both ways. My niece turned her phone in before class every day and on the last day of school it wasn’t in the bin when she went to pick it up. The school took no responsibility for it.
This is great. There are numerous studies showing the detriment of phones in schools and the benefits of phone-free schools.
I hope they just give schools the freedom to pursue the path towards this that works best for them instead of a one-size-fits-all solution. I also hope parents are collaborative.
Yeah, because not taking and shooting video of lab demonstrations + looking up ideas and terms are such bad ideas. /s
In most other countries I would fully support this. In fact, where my daughter grew up (London) they turned their phones in at the beginning of the day. But with the prevalence of school shooters here, I’d prefer my child keep his/her phone.
Have there been a lot of school shootings within NYC?
My daughter’s NYC school was on lockdown at least once a month due to shootings, stabbings, and other violence in close vicinity of the school, in addition to security issues inside the school building. The school’s phones inexplicably did not function most of the year. So yes student cell phones were needed.
I asked about shootings.
Not general violence. Also I specified “within the school”.
Nor am I against students having smartphones, flipphones, and cameras without phones.
Bryna West is misrepresenting the frequency of shootings in NYC schools; NYC is not Texas or Florida, thankfully.
This is the issue. We’re all for keeping the phones away, but what if something awful happens? We’ve had some lockdowns at school and our daughter’s texts were such a relief.
Having survived K-12 in NYC schools, IMO DOE seems hell bent on grandstanding and on driving families out of the school system, instead of doing the hard work of providing appropriate, safe, and welcoming education to all.
The phone serves as a safety device, to record things the school system would rather bury. Pest infestations. Overflowing toilets. Bullying by students. Bullying by teachers. Assault. Even students falling through the ceiling to the floor below. All of these happened at my child’s schools. And guess what transpired when a student went to the school office to report assault or bullying, with irrefutable video evidence. The student who made the video got in trouble for filming in school. The person who attacked went unpunished. Much like police dislike body cams, schools do not want the transparency that cell phones bring, because it forces them to do their jobs.
Beyond transparency, phones facilitate daily functioning. Getting to and from school. Order and pay for off-campus lunch. Assist in science labs. Photograph projects for employment and college portfolios. Record class notes.
Phones also provide a lifeline for students with mental health challenges, which by some estimates is nearly half of all NYC teens, to communicate and coordinate with others in a student’s support system. It is difficult enough for a student with anxiety or depression to attend achool. Take away their ability to reach parents and therapists, including using NYC’s own phone-based TeenSpace mental health service, and now you have chronic absenteeism and dropout. And don’t say that exceptions can be made for such students to keep their phones. No one wants to be outed or othered, and schools already fail to provide basic and mandated accommodations.
This ban solves nothing and creates thousands of problems.
Yes this is New York City and not some Nassau County school district where if you have a problem, you can always call the GOP county committeeperson for your area and they will resolve things quick. That is what makes Nassau County great.
I predict 1 or 3% of squeaky wheels will prevent this good idea from taking effect. Heaven forbid the overwhelming majority should get their way in this era of rule by the smallest of peculiar interests.