There’s no signal.
New York’s new statewide smartphone ban in schools just went into effect this academic year — city public schools returned Sept. 4 — and students, parents and teachers are already grading the controversial measure.
And they’re giving it an A+.
“The cellphone ban has transformed my class … I haven’t had kids this engaged in years,” a Brooklyn Preparatory High School history teacher, Mr. Johnson, raved to The Post about the switch.
Governor Kathy Hochul’s new measure requires nearly 1 million kids in K-12 public and charter schools to put all personal internet-enabled devices away from the first bell to the last.
“They’re actively listening to the lessons, answering questions thoughtfully and critically, and best of all, paying attention to and learning from each other,” the instructor added — even calling the move “the best thing that’s happened for schools and for the students.”
Many could barely contain their excitement for the divisive directive, though others were already rolling their eyes at the logistical nightmare of Yondr pouches, communal phone boxes and locker storage.
‘It’s an addiction’
Randi E., a Nassau County high school teacher, said she’d observed a notable shift in student behavior on campus in just a few days.
“It’s nice to see students walking and talking to one another between classes instead of having their eyes glued to their phones,” she told The Pos.
She also noted that schoolyard scuffles were on the decline — providing an amusing twist in the age of dramatic TikTok videos and viral Instagram posts.
“A student told me, ‘What’s the point of fighting if we can’t record it on our phones?’” she recalled.
High school English teacher John T., also from Nassau County, liked that his students were “having conversations with each other,” but wasn’t certain that lunch periods needed to be scroll-free.
“I personally think in the cafeteria it’s excessive to have a phone ban,” he said, pointing out that students who don’t have friends at lunch might benefit from a little leeway.
Meanwhile, in Queens, Victoria Vilkas, a second-grade teacher in Rego Park and a mom of a high school student, was feeling positive about the future impact of the move.
“YouTube and games. It’s an addiction. Even in younger grades,” she told The Post, adding that students can even get distracted on their classroom-authorized laptops.
Finding ways to cope
Of course, some students staring down entire school days without their lifelines aren’t necessarily so enthusiastic.
A few weeks in, the experiment is already turning lunchrooms into tactical planning zones, hallways into whispering networks, and group chats into, well… forbidden fruit.
Sierra Sumardin, a 15-year-old sophomore at Forest Hills High School in Queens, told The Post that the new era is putting a serious crimp in her social life, as coordinating with friends has now become a challenge for her and her pals.
“We don’t all have lunch together. If a friend is delayed somewhere in the building, we have no way of knowing about it as we cannot have devices out during lunch,” she said.
Sumardin also frets about her lack of a link to the outside world — wondering why she should get into trouble for contacting her parents or other family members during her free periods.
“The hardest part about not having my phone is being able to text my parents if I would need something or if something had happened during the day,” she said.
But for some of her peers, it’s all a big fuss about nothing.
“I don’t find it any different [with the ban] because I personally wouldn’t use my phone in class anyway,” Ari T., 14, a freshman at a Union Square high school, boasted to The Post.
Noa Dunn, 12, an Upper West Side seventh grader at Booker T. Washington Middle School, said that phones and smartwatches that do more than tell time had already been banned on the West 107th Street campus.
“I’ve never been to a school where cell phones were allowed in classes,” she said, describing a routine where phones and Apple Watches are collected each morning and returned before the final bell — and students chat and play games like Uno during lunch and recess.
“Having any devices around me would be a big distraction for learning,” she told The Post. Noa doesn’t have a smartphone yet, she confessed — though her parents did give her an Apple Watch when she was in the sixth grade.
Her classmate Maximilian “Max” Davidge, 12, is also fully on board with the ban — which he and Dunn said their peers seem to have no trouble following.
“I actually like the idea because if everyone is on their phone when the teacher is teaching, then no one will learn anything in school,” Davidge told The Post, adding that breaks like recess are a “time to socialize with each other in person.”
“Throughout sixth grade last year and now in my first week of seventh, I haven’t seen anyone really need their phone, especially with my friends. They never minded the ban,” he noted, praising it for fostering focus and bonding.
Safety concerns linger
While some parents are relieved over the prospect of reduced screen time, others are nervous about the emergency calls they’ll no longer be able to make directly.
Upper West Side mom Carla Dunn, mother of seventh-grader Noa, cited Booker T. Washington’s early adoption of the ban as one of the school’s major pluses, saying she liked that the kids had less social pressure on them during regular hours as a result.
“I’m happy about the ban and having less distractions for these kids. It’s already hard enough to stay focused,” Dunn said, noting that the staff has handled any emergencies that have arisen to her satisfaction, thus far.
“Students should talk to each other one-to-one in school and not communicate through a device,” said Matthew Davidge, father of Maximilian, saying how much he appreciated that the teachers at Booker T. have worked hard to foster focus and conscientiousness — making it an ideal testing ground for the policy.
Lindsie Sindon, mother of seventh grader Eva in upstate Conklin, New York, can see the positives — but the whole thing is making her nervous, she told The Post.
“I think about the times when she wouldn’t feel well and would need to reach me,” she said. “I also think about the prevalence of school shootings. What if she’s in the bathroom and that happens, and she isn’t able to make it to a classroom in time?”
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