A new survey showed a majority support among New York City teachers for a cellphone ban, but also revealed implementation challenges, hinting at the complications that delayed the rollout of a system-wide policy.
The survey released Monday by the United Federation of Teachers found that 63% of city public school educators who responded support a citywide ban on cell phones. However, 40% of respondents who already had bans at their schools said the bans were failures because of a lack of planning and organization.
The survey comes less than two weeks after Mayor Eric Adams announced he would not impose a citywide cell phone ban this school year. Earlier in the summer, Adams and Schools Chancellor David Banks had said a new policy announcement was imminent.
Adams attributed the delay to an ongoing review of “best practices” at hundreds of public schools that have restrictions in place. A citywide ban remains possible starting next school year.
“Teachers know firsthand that cell phones waste classroom time and threaten students’ mental and physical health,” union president Michael Mulgrew said in a statement.
As city officials consider potential policies, the union said results show:
- 63% supported a citywide ban, 31% were opposed, and 6% were neutral
- 49% of schools already had a a form of ban in place
- Among those whose schools already had bans, 38% called the ban a success, and 40% said the ban was a failure
In elementary schools, respondents said the policy that worked best was to have kids keep their phones off and in backpacks. In middle and high schools, it worked best when staff collected students’ phones at arrival and placed them in lockers. According to the union, locked cell phone pouches got mixed reviews because kids figured out how to break them open.
Based on the feedback, Mulgrew said it’s crucial that teachers aren’t the “first or sole line of enforcement.”
“We don’t want a ban that wastes more instructional time by having individual educators asked to collect every class’ cell phones,” he said.
Mulgrew added that the enforcement must be fair and uniform and that the education department must pay directly for costs of a ban centrally instead of forcing schools to cover the costs of lockers or pouches out of their individual budgets. Mulgrew added that “parents need to be brought into discussion” about how bans would work, and schools also need to have clear ways for parents to contact students in an emergency.
Other major school districts, including Los Angeles and Orlando, have implemented a phone ban. Gov. Kathy Hochul has also expressed support for such a policy, saying it’s time to “liberate” kids from their phones.