Thursday, October 1, 2026
Governor Kathy Hochul is moving to curb smartphone use by banning them entirely during school hours to ensure “distraction-free learning.” New York is gearing up to take part in a nationwide experiment to remove what has been labeled a persistent and powerful classroom distraction out of students’ hands.
“The mental health of our children, especially middle school and high school is really declining” as a key reason for the ban, said Hochul in a press release.
But cutting off access to the digital world via a device that students are accustomed to having constantly at their fingertips may prove unsettling. According to Jennifer DiMaio, assistant superintendent for curriculum & instruction, enforcing that task is far easier said than done.
DiMaio recalls a recent conversation with students over possible student-friendly ways to enforce the ban. She thought the Yondr lockable pouch, a low-tech device that seals with a magnet and an increasingly popular tool among schools going phoneless could work —or, so she thought, until one student told her plainly:
“Miss just give up. It’s not going to work. We already know how to hack the bags.”
On TikTok, videos amassing thousands, even millions of views, share simple hacks for unlocking school-issued cell phone pouches — from popping them open with a pencil — to using decoys to bypass restrictions. One viral hack video, posted by user Belle Hesse, has garnered 20.1 million views as of April.
If students have ways to circumvent them, you have to consider what is the point of investing money in phone storage devices, argued DiMaio. “Nobody’s arguing that cell phones have a lot of negative impacts on kids,” she said. “It’s just that when you task schools with managing (screen time), a lot of issues come up.”
Smartphones have become so ubiquitous and ingrained, educators like DiMaio agree that a student’s focus, mental health, and emotional wellbeing can be shaped as much by what happens on those screens as by what happens off them.
Excessive smartphone use is linked to rising rates of anxiety, loneliness, and depression among students. While social media doesn’t directly cause these mental health issues, research shows people already struggling with their well-being tend to spend more time online. Experts warn that social media is engineered to be addictive, with ‘gamified’ features tailored to keep users engaged to drive ad revenue. This constant engagement when taken to an extreme promotes unhealthy habits—like poor sleep and less time outdoors—that fuel emotional distress.
Silencing the daily drum beat of notification pings and curbing the urge to scroll or check feeds can eliminate one of the biggest distractions teachers face in capturing students’ attention. But teachers will also have to bear the additional burden of policing students during the school day, which could place an unwanted demand on their time.
“On a daily basis, it’s the principal, assistant principals, and teachers who must remain vigilant,” said DeMaio. “However, teachers want to teach, not spend their time catching students with cell phones or handing out referrals.”
The last thing the school district wants to do is confiscate the phones, especially when they need buy-in from students, teachers, and parents to make any enforcement policy work, noted DiMaio. General consensus among the school community “is the best-case scenario.”
That is far from guaranteed. Across Long Island, parents have raised concerns about the need for immediate communication access. In a time when school shootings and violence are an ever-present fear, phones have evolved into a crucial safety tool for parents to track their kids’ whereabouts and receive real-time updates during a crisis.
DiMaio rebutted the smartphone-driven safety philosophy, arguing it falls short as a reliable security measure.
“In schools, there are designated areas for students to make calls in emergencies, and it’s essential to return to those procedures rather than relying on students’ immediate access to phones,” she said. “While we prioritize student safety and support, communication should flow through the proper channels, with parents reaching out to the school rather than texting their children directly. This ensures that emergencies are handled appropriately, with professionals guiding the response.”
Overall, while many studies point to phone bans as a potential way to reduce distractions and boost focus in the classroom, the evidence remains mixed. The impact on academic performance varies, and more research is needed to fully grasp the long-term effects on both student achievement and well-being.
DeMaio noted that, based on her discussions with administrators and education leaders, there may be varying levels of receptiveness to the policy between younger high school students and their older counterparts.
“Seventh and eighth graders are still in that middle school mindset, responding well to clear rules and expectations,” she said. “Older students having had access to phones throughout their entire high school years, have become accustomed to it,” which could make compliance a lot harder. Despite their reservations, Valley Stream and other districts will have little choice but to comply. Hochul recently had the program approved in the spending plan, and slated to take effect in the 2025-2026 school year.
Have an opinion on this article? Send an email to jlasso@liherald.com.
