With cell phones slowly becoming more prevalent in people’s lives, issues have surfaced concerning their fit in school settings. 

As reported by New York News Channel 10, Governor Kathy Hochul of New York has proposed to tighten restrictions on smartphones, tablets, and similar devices in K-12 schools—a so-called “bell-to-bell” phone policy. This would limit the use of such devices throughout the school day. Hochul justifies this policy as improving students’ overall mental health through the limitation of distractions, attributing many issues within the school environment to “challenges that come with being addicted to social media algorithms and platforms.”

If implemented, this statewide policy would become mandatory for all public schools, charter schools, and Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) programs in the 2025-26 school year. Schools would need to publish their respective specifications of these policies by August 1st. 

So what would this mean for students? Given that the state budget holds $13.5 million for the purpose of device storage, this policy would most likely mean that students must have their phones located in a designated pouch/locker while on school property. Specifications concerning after-school activities have not yet been made.

There are accommodations within this policy for individuals with certain medical requirements—such as the need for insulin monitoring for diabetes—as well as learning disabilities and language barriers. Cell phones would only be used for emergencies or with direct permission from an instructor (this has been a part of many school policies already but is still highlighted).

Again, this is still a proposal for the 2025-26 school year, and many aspects are still subject to change. All of this is part of the state’s plan to improve the quality of education and students’ mental health and to emphasize certain cell phone policy aspects that were not as effectively enforced in previous school plans.