New York Governor Kathy Hochul wants to prohibit smartphones in classrooms. The Guardian says that students might carry “dumb” phones without Internet connection.
The governor expects to present the law later this year and discuss it in January 2025. Hochul blames social media for juvenile mental health decrease.
According to WHAM – Rochester, seventh-grader Gianna Crawford stated, “I definitely agree that we shouldn’t be using them in class. If we needed to contact our parents, I think we should have them.”
Parents in the US oppose school smartphone bans because they need to be in touch with their children, especially in emergencies.
“I have seen these addictive algorithms pull in young people, literally capture them and make them prisoners in a space where they are cut off from human connection, social interaction and normal classroom activity,” Hochul told Newsmax.
“Parents are very anxious about school mass shootings,” she added. “Parents want some connection in an emergency.”
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Hochul supports the Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (Safe) for Kids Act. It would force social media sites to give kids a chronological feed of accounts they follow rather than algorithm-generated ones. The law would also let parents ban nighttime notifications.
The governor's New York Child Data Protection Act prohibits internet sites that know a user's age from collecting children's personal data. Over $800,000 has been spent campaigning against the measures by companies and trade associations.
New York parent and teacher Abby Griffin feels communication is important but might distract students.
“I don’t really see a benefit to having it,” Griffin told WHAM-Rochester. “Students already have school-provided laptops and iPads, so I think that's enough.”
“I think from a parent standpoint, as my kids get older, I think, yes, it's nice to be able to contact them, but there's really no need to contact them throughout the day,” she said.