Last year, when I visited the student lounge at one of the seven New York City schools I lead as the CEO of United Charter High Schools, every student had their head down, seemingly in a trance, scrolling through social media. This year, when I returned to that same lounge, every student was talking, laughing, and engaging with one another face-to-face.
What made the difference? We banned cell phones during the school day.
Experiences like that are why I strongly support Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposed statewide “bell-to-bell” cellphone ban and oppose efforts to weaken the plan by allowing cell phone use during non-instructional periods. If we are serious about improving student learning and well-being, we must stand firm on this.
At United Charter High Schools, we enacted a network-wide cellphone ban this academic year after seeing the positive impact of bans that were already in place at four of our seven schools.
The results have been striking. Teachers say that students are more engaged, disruptions are down, and academic focus has improved. They also report spending more classroom time teaching because they no longer need to remind students to put their phones away. Even just a few minutes per class adds up to dozens of hours of additional instruction over the year. Students themselves acknowledge that they are less distracted and more present in class. This is the environment we should foster in every school across New York State.
Research backs up our experience. A University of Chicago study found that the mere presence of a smartphone, even if unused, reduces cognitive capacity. According to the Pew Research Center, 72 percent of high school teachers say that students being distracted by cell phones is a major problem. Excessive cell phone use also jeopardizes students’ mental health by contributing to anxiety, stress, cyberbullying, and sleep disruption.
Opponents of a full-day ban argue that students should be allowed to use their phones during non-instructional times. This is a mistake. We need to create environments during the school day, but outside of the classroom, in which students can communicate interpersonally, without screens, to prepare them for success in college, careers, and their social lives. We should be encouraging conversation and relationship-building, not enabling isolation through phone use, which weakens the culture shift we are trying to achieve.
Some critics of the ban worry about parents’ ability to contact their children in an emergency. But under New York State’s proposed policy, schools will be required to provide parents with a way to reach their children when necessary. In our network of schools, we established clear channels that allow parents to get in touch with their children through the school office, and this has worked well. The reality is that students do not need constant access to their phones to be safe. In fact, as a lifelong educator, I believe that students are safest when they are present, in the moment, and not distracted.
New York can take a bold step in supporting students’ academic success and well-being. By implementing a statewide ban on cellphone use during the school day, we can help students focus, learn, and build critical interpersonal skills. If we are serious about helping students succeed academically and socially, we must embrace a true “bell-to-bell” cellphone ban and ensure that every school in New York provides a distraction-free learning environment.
Dr. Curtis Palmore is chief executive officer of United Charter High Schools, a network of seven high-performing college- and career-preparatory high schools serving nearly 3,000 students in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens.
