NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (WKBW) — Getting students to pay attention in the classroom is now a major challenge as so many children are distracted by their smartphones, but Governor Kathy Hochul says she is considering proposing a bill to ban phones in all schools across the state.
“We have to liberate them from this. We have to just draw a line now and say no, enough is enough,” remarked Governor Kathy Hochul.
7 News found some schools have already taken action by boldly setting a no-phone policy in their classrooms.
Senior Reporter Eileen Buckley says these are schools right here in your Western New York community.
Some schools, including Gaskill Preparatory School in the Niagara Falls City School District, do not allow students to bring a phone into the classroom.
7th and 8th graders, who attend, now follow this new policy.
“From 7:15 to 2:35 you're not going to have the phones,” remarked Derek Zimmerman, Principal of Gaskill Preparatory School. “It's super important.”
“I’ll be on it, and I just lose time,” said Jahniyah Gayle, an 8th grader at Gaskill Prep.
In one classroom, 7 News found students quietly working on their calculators with no phones in site.
Principal Zimmerman says the school decided to finally ban cell phones because of the distraction and the harm it causes to student's mental health.
“We got parents to buy in right away. When we said there were direct connections to depression, to anxiety, to even an increase in the number of students that self-harming,” Zimmerman explained.
Students can bring their phones into the school, but not into the classroom. They are asked to store them in their lockers for the day.
“Is it easy? No. Are we taking cell phones from students every single day? Yes. We still are. Kids will test every rule that you have. However, the majority of our students are complying with it,” Zimmerman reflected.
It irks me not to have my phone in the classroom. But, it also gives me more time to work and be more focused because my phone does distract me,” Gayle said. “I just get so caught up."
The Wellsville Central School District in Allegany County also has a district-wide cell phone ban policy and the superintendent says it's working.
“I think it's a good idea,” commented David Foster, Superintendent of Wellsville Central School District. “You notice a difference almost immediately — on day one — I remember walking the halls and seeing faces of students where I hadn't in previous years.“
Foster says some of the texting was actually coming from parents.
“Kids would say ‘My mom is calling — I need to step out’ and this was happening all over and during all times of the day and it was really a disturbance,” Foster said.
Back at the Gaskill School, Gayle tells me her mom would text her while she was in class.
“I would be telling her — you have to stop texting me. I’m in class. You have to stop,” she said.
Other parents fear they won’t be able to reach their child in an emergency.
"But some parents will say, my child needs that phone for emergencies — I need to be able to reach out to them at a moment’s notice. How do respond to parents that feel that way?" Buckley asked.
“I think everyone's mind kind of goes to the worst-case scenario in those situations, but those kinds of communication are best done through a district office or a building office,” answered Foster.
“It can compromise some of your safety plans. During a lockdown drill, students are in communication with the outside world every second of every day. They're texting parents, they're texting relatives that something's going on in the building, and they don't know the details. So, the worst thing you want going on during an emergency is 50 parents knocking at the front door,” Zimmerman noted.
“There's a reason why our phones are in our lockers — you don't really need your phone, you can just put it away sometimes,” said Gayle.
Both Gaskill and Wellsville Schools tell me they plan to keep this ban in place into the next school year.
