New York City public schools are looking to ban cellphone use during the school day in a move that was teased more than a week after U.S. surgeon general Vivek Murthy warned about the threat that social media poses to children.
New York City Public Schools chancellor David Banks said Wednesday that rules for a cellphone ban will be announced in the next two weeks while students are away for the summer. Banks and Mayor Eric Adams are slated to announce the official plan early next month.
New York City has the nation’s largest school district with an estimated enrollment of 995,000 students across 1,800 schools. The ban would go into effect as early as January.
Banks said the district has been consulting medical doctors as it developed a ban that would address the negative mental health impacts on minors. “Our kids are fully addicted to these phones,” he told NY1. “We’ve got to do something about it.”
On June 17, Murthy wrote an op-ed in the New York Times advising Congress to force social-media companies to place health warnings on their apps, just like the warning labels seen on cigarettes and alcohol. His warning has since sparked a nationwide movement to ban students’ use of cellphones in public schools.
Last week, California governor Gavin Newsom vowed that he would work with the state’s Democratic-controlled legislature to ensure schools restrict smartphones. On the same day as his announcement, the Los Angeles school board voted to approve such restrictions that will be implemented in January. The Los Angeles school district is the second largest in the nation with over 667,000 enrolled students.
Similar to Newsom’s announcement on the issue, New York governor Kathy Hochul is planning to propose legislation that would prohibit smartphone use in schools statewide. She signed a bill last week that combats the dangers of social media by requiring platforms to restrict addictive algorithmically-driven feeds for users under 18. The legislation also protects children’s online privacy.
Florida governor Ron DeSantis also enacted a strict social-media law this year, prohibiting children under 14 from accessing social-media accounts and requiring parental permission for children ages 14-15. Moreover, Florida was the first state to implement a statewide cellphone ban for its public schools last year.
While details of the New York City policy remain under wraps for now, Banks said students can expect to arrive at school with their phones in hand but are required to hand them in during school hours.
“We want you to be able to bring your phone to school because the minute that school is over, you need to be in communication with your family,” he said.
Individual school principals in the city have come up with their own policies on what to do with cellphones during the school day. Some collected phones at the start of the day, while others made students place their devices in lockable pouches. The ban will mark a departure from that approach.
New York City previously had a cellphone ban in schools until it was lifted by then-Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2015. His predecessor, Michael Bloomberg, was the one who implemented the citywide ban. Adams said he’s recently been in touch with Bloomberg on the forthcoming ban.