EAST AMHERST, N.Y. (WKBW) — NYSUT hosted its Western New York "Disconnected" conference on Thursday inside Casey Middle School in East Amherst.
The conference aimed to talk about how cell phones impact kids, how parents and teachers can manage student usage, and how to find a balance between new and traditional ways of learning.
This comes after NYSUT called on Governor Hochul to put a state-wide ban on phones in school. The governor has plans for a ban as part of her executive budget proposal.
"As a school resource officer, I would feel much more safe if we had cell phones out of our schools," said David Jarczyk, a West Seneca Police Department SRO. "There are kids so distracted by phones they walk into me in the hallway, a walking police officer in the hallway. I think that's probably the most striking physical example."
"This is definitely at least something that we do need to pursue and to look at and I think the Governor's measures have just nudged us to fast forward," said Andrew Bowen, Williamsville North High School Principal.
"Kids, on average, from 13 to 18, are spending 2 hours on their phones in school," said Assemblyman Bill Conrad. "That two hours adds up and we're talking about essentially the same thing as an attendance issue."
