New York Gov. Kathy Hochul recently unveiled her new proposal to ban smartphones during class hours. Hochul’s justification is that phones distract and restrict children from developing academically, stating, “this comprehensive proposal… will ensure that New York’s statewide standard for distraction-free learning delivers the best results for our kids and educators.”
Her plan is laudable at first sight as it benefits children and their education. However, is there more to this story? Could this ban serve interests that are not children’s?
Her statement seems odd, given the minimal interest to improve education from its foundation as warranted by the declining quality of education and decreasing National Assessment of Educational Progress scores.
Hence, the question arises of whether cellphone bans are an initiative for the benefit of education, children or schools.
Cellphones allow children to share what really happens in the classroom. Several examples show children revealing shocking instances of teacher misconduct and abuse.
Last year, a student’s recording showing repetitive cursing and derogation caused a New Jersey teacher to abruptly quit. Another viral social media video of a California teacher threatening physical harm toward a student led the teacher to be placed on administrative leave.
Although such examples of children recording in class are isolated occurrences, teacher misconduct is not uncommon: one-third of public schools experience at least one disciplinary teacher offense per year.
Cellphones reduce the perception and communication gaps between students and parents regarding what is happening in class. Children have limited capacity and resources, if any, to make their voices heard when something goes wrong at school.
Children keep quiet about abuse — less than one in 12 children share about abuse. After a recording showing teacher misconduct, parent David Wright said, “I wondered why [my son] didn’t want to go to school. I’m used to a teacher being able to grade my son, not degrade my son.”
It is undebatable that cellphones and devices change the way we think, live and socialize, sometimes negatively. But whether the quality of education will objectively improve after a cellphone ban has not been objectively proven. A Swedish study showed that student performance did not improve after cellphones were banned in schools. Parents themselves do not appear to support allowing their children with cellphones in school.
Instead of implementing the most forceful policy through a ban, it is critical for young generations to learn to use devices responsibly. This should be a collaborative, hands-on effort between parents, educators and society to enable informed decisions and productive results. U.S. global leadership requires technology and developing the talents of the future, and it should start now in classrooms. Strict bans are easy and absent evidence for their effectiveness on educational outcomes, their implementation seems excessive.
