The nation’s largest school district could move as early as January to ban students from using cellphones, and New York City Public Schools Chancellor David Banks said Wednesday that cellphone use is having a major impact on education.
“We are aware of the issue and we know it’s a big problem,” he said. He told WNYW.
Banks said the district is finalizing a policy to ban cellphone use in more than 2,000 schools serving more than 1 million students, which he said will be formally announced in the coming weeks.
New York City isn’t the first major school district to ban cell phones: The Los Angeles Unified School District voted last week to ban cell phones starting in 2025.
“Kids no longer have the opportunity to just be kids,” said Los Angeles School Board Commissioner Nick Melvoin, who introduced the bill. “My hope is that this resolution will not only help students stay focused in class, but also give them the opportunity to interact and engage with one another and just be kids.”
The trend to ban cell phones is becoming more widespread among local governments, with some schools providing cell phone hotspots where students must return their cell phones at the beginning of the day and cannot use them until the end of the day. Some states, such as South Carolina, are considering banning cell phones in all public schools across the state.
Other school districts have come up with creative solutions to locking down devices, including partnering with startups.
Renesha Parks, chief health officer for Richmond Public Schools in Virginia, told The Hill in December that the school is partnering with Yonder, a company that makes magnetic cell phone pouches, to implement a pilot policy banning cellphones in six schools in early 2024. The measure will affect about 4,200 students and cost about $75,000.
“This is a very costly initiative, but we believe it will reduce the number of infractions that occur as a result of student cell phone use and improve classroom productivity and academic instruction. It’s worth the investment,” Parks said.
According to 2020 government data, about 80% of schools banned cellphone use for non-academic purposes, but enforcement varies widely across the country.
Lexi Lonas contributed.
