New York City public schools are just one week away from the start of the fall term on September 5th, but the planned campus cell phone ban is still up in the air. Mayor Eric Adams, during an interview on a news program on August 28th, pushed back against criticisms from the public, emphasizing the need for time to get things right and stating that he is in discussions with the New York City Department of Education to devise a plan.
When questioned by Pix11’s evening news anchor Kori Chambers about whether he was backtracking on the campus cell phone ban, Mayor Adams repeatedly stressed that this was not the case: “No, no, I do want to do this. I believe there should be no distractions in the classroom. Social media on phones fuels bullying behavior, I believe it also fuels suicidal thoughts, and it indeed affects the mental health of children.”
Adams went on to say, “We want to get it right. Because previous administrations wanted to do this too, attempted to ban phones (from schools), but all failed.”
He mentioned that he wants to take things slow and has discussed with the Director of the Department of Education, David Banks, to ensure that related policies can be properly implemented.
“What about those students who are very unwilling to give up their phones?” Adams said, “We also do not want to take harsh measures but need to get it right.”
Adams expressed the need to communicate with parents, teachers, and education workers, acknowledging that some schools have already implemented campus cell phone bans for the new term, stating, “We also want to learn from them.”
Earlier this week on Tuesday (27th), Adams stated at a press briefing that there are thousands of students in schools who are addicted to using their phones, but figuring out how to prohibit this is another matter: “Should we confiscate students’ phones? Or lock phones in lockers? Put them in sealed bags? What if someone loses their phone? How do we deal with uncooperative students?”
Although the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) President Michael Mulgrew has expressed support for New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s proposed campus cell phone ban, Adams mentioned that there is still a need to discuss the implementation details of the ban with UFT.
According to a report by CBS on August 28th, some teachers have voiced that they do not want to be “phone police” or waste valuable class time regulating phones, while parents’ attitudes towards the campus phone rule are ambivalent—wanting their children to focus on studies yet also be able to reach them.
On the forum site “reddit” in the “NYCTeachers” section, some New York public school teachers have shared UFT’s anonymous survey to understand teachers’ views on the phone ban.
Based on the original post and comments, most people do not oppose the campus phone ban, with the key issue lying in the implementation method.
User “_the_credible_hulk_” stated in a post, “Personally, I fully support disabling phones at the school entrance. As a classroom teacher, I am tired of dealing with these issues.”
According to a report by the education site “Chalkbeat” on July 18th, New York City public schools may not see a full ban on using phones on the premises until as late as February next year.