Gov. Kathy Hawkle said Thursday she is working to ban students from bringing smartphones to New York schools as part of an effort to address the overlapping education and youth mental health crises.
The Democratic governor plans to introduce legislation that would ban students from bringing smartphones onto school grounds, aiming to have the bill approved during the 2025 legislative session that starts in January, setting up a politically charged debate over the issue in the coming months between educators, lawmakers and big tech companies.
While the governor’s office has yet to release details about the proposal, Governor Hawke told media he is open to allowing children to bring “flip phones” to school that can be used for texting and making calls.
The comments come as New York state lawmakers make a last-minute push to stop internet companies from misusing personal data and using addictive social media features in ways that harm the mental health and development of New York’s youth. The effort aims to pass the two bills before the current legislative session ends in early June.
Hoklu speaks about the smartphone ban
New York school districts have different policies regarding student smartphone use, Hawkle said during an appearance on MSNBC on Thursday, but she argued that “the vast majority of districts allow it,” despite parents’ concerns that fears of school shootings could lead to them losing touch with their children.
“Why are young people on their devices all day during school? How are they learning?” Haukl asked of the smartphone ban, first reported by the Guardian.
“It’s OK to have a flip phone,” Hawkle added on MSNBC, noting that allowing the outdated technology should ease parents’ concerns while also ensuring that kids aren’t “immersed in social media all day.” It’s unclear how Hawkle would propose enforcing the ban.
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What are other schools and states doing about smartphones in schools?
Banning smartphones in schools has been discussed on and off since smartphones first hit the market nearly two decades ago, but efforts to restrict smartphone use in schools have gained attention around the world in the last year as research into their harmful effects on children’s education and mental health has grown.
Guidelines recommending a ban on cellphone use in schools came into force in Britain last fall, following those in other European countries. In the US, Florida imposed a statewide ban on cellphone use during school hours last year, and some school districts have gone further, banning use at lunch and recess.
National debate on mobile phones: Schools don’t want kids to have cell phones. Is banning them the solution?
New York City plans to end data collection and addictive social media feeds
Hawkle’s comments came as lawmakers were debating bills for the current session, including the Prevent Child Exploitation of Addictive Feeds Act, which would require social media companies to restrict key addictive features on their platforms.
Currently, the platform supplements content from accounts users follow by serving content from accounts they don’t follow or subscribe to. This content is curated using algorithms that collect and display content based on a variety of factors. But the governor noted that algorithmic feeds have proven addictive because they prioritize content that keeps users on the platform longer.
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The other bill, called the New York Children’s Data Protection Act, would prohibit all online sites from collecting, using, sharing or selling personal data of anyone under the age of 18, unless they have obtained informed consent or it is strictly necessary for the website’s purposes.
For users under the age of 13, that informed consent must come from a parent. The bill gives the Attorney General’s Office the power to enforce the law and to issue injunctions, damages, or civil penalties of up to $5,000 per violation.
The two bills have been Hochl’s biggest end-of-session priority in recent weeks, aimed at overcoming lobbying resistance from Facebook parent Meta and other tech giants including Google, which have collectively spent hundreds of thousands of dollars since last fall trying to influence New York lawmakers and regulators, according to state records.
USA TODAY contributed to this report.
