Gov. Hochul is introducing cellphone restrictions in New York public schools as part of the upcoming state budget amid concern over the mental health of youngsters, she said Monday.
The specifics of her plan will be unveiled later this month, and will likely be ironed out during negotiations with state lawmakers, according to a press release from the governor’s office.
“We got to talk about cellphones in schools,” Hochul said at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, New York. “We won’t do that today, because it will make me very unpopular, I’m sure. But I did enough round tables with teenagers in schools, even around here.”
“One young woman said, ‘You got to save us from ourselves. We can’t put it down because we’re afraid we’re going to miss something. Someone could be getting together in the girls room right now and I can’t miss it, or they’re going to be talking about a party. They’re going to be talking about what I’m wearing. They’re mocking me out and bullying me.'”
The governor had been teasing limits on the devices since last spring, when former Chancellor David Banks was exploring a ban in New York City public schools, the state’s largest district. But Mayor Adams at the eleventh hour put the kibosh on those plans for this school year.
As part of the state budget, any restrictions will require approval by the Legislature, as opposed to an executive order by the governor. Hochul has repeatedly said cutting back on cellphone-use is necessary to combat youth mental health issues coming out of the pandemic.
“There’s so much pressure on all of you, and I’ve got to help you with that,” Hochul said. “That’s my job.”
Banks, who was pushed out by Mayor Adams in October after his phone was seized by federal investigators, has continued to advocate for school cellphone restrictions in his retirement. Earlier this month, he shared an op-ed in the Daily News on at least two social media platforms, renewing his call for a ban and distancing himself from Adams’ decision “to take more time to consider” it.
His successor, Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos, collected student cellphones when she was a principal in the Bronx. But the schools head, who previously served as Banks’ chief of staff and one of his deputies, has aligned herself with Adams during TV and radio appearances since the state legislative session kicked off last week.
“The mayor and I are in lockstep on this,” Aviles-Ramos said Sunday on CBS News New York’s The Point with Marcia Kramer. “It’s not that we don’t agree with cellphones not being in classrooms. We absolutely, absolutely don’t think they should be in classrooms, but we want to make sure is that that journey from great idea to implementation is a solid one.”
Aviles-Ramos also cast doubt on a cellphone policy as a cure-all for youth mental health: “It’s kind of like giving someone with chronic migraines an Advil every single day. At what point don’t you say, ‘Well, why do they have chronic migraines?’ We need to get to the root of the problem.”
New York City parents were divided Monday on whether they think schools should collect phones for the entirety of the school day.
“I just think that phones have taken over the lives of teenagers,” said a mom at Beacon High School in Hell’s Kitchen, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “They want to be on them 24/7. Their lives have become consumed by these devices.”
Beacon allows students to use their cellphones during free periods and lunch. Her child previously attended a school where phones were banned for all school hours, which she said she preferred.
“You as a parent try the best you can, but school is school. It shouldn’t be about looking at Instagram.”
Rima Izquierdo, a Bronx mom with three children in public schools, was in high school when 9/11 happened. She worries not only about that level of an emergency, but also about day-to-day incidents where phones allow kids to connect with parents or hold the school accountable, specifically for students with disabilities like her own.
Plus, she shares Chancellor Aviles-Ramos’ suspicions that a ban is a silver bullet for young people’s well-being.
“We talk a lot about IQ, but there’s a lot to be said about ‘EQ,’ emotional intelligence, and preparing students for the use of phones,” Izquierdo said. “They have access to their phones right before school and right after school. I just think it’s a Band-Aid, and we should focus on what changed with students and cellphones and the pandemic.”
