NYC schools not yet ready to enact cellphone ban, mayor says

NEW YORK — A cellphone ban will not be in place when New York City schools open for the 2024-25 academic year, Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday.

Adams said he and Schools Chancellor David Banks are still working out the kinks. He said they're looking at what Los Angeles and other school districts have done before moving ahead.

"If you don't do it right, you won't get it right," Adams said. "The overwhelming number of people would like to get the distractions out of school. How to do it is another question. Do you take the phones? Do you lock them up? Do you put them in pouches? What happens if the phone is missing? What happens if a child refuses to cooperate? All of this stuff, you have to really work it out."

Cellphone ban returning to New York City Public Schools

New York City Public Schools previously had a phone ban in place, but it was lifted in 2015 . The schools chancellor previously stated a district-wide cellphone ban could be enacted as early as January 2025, saying, "Kids are fully addicted now to phones."

The Department of Education said 350 schools do have their own individual cellphone restrictions in place. Many use magnetized pouches, but they can be expensive and one of the questions is who pays for them.

CBS News New York political reporter Marcia Kramer said she is told teachers favor the policy with certain conditions. For example, they don't want to add "phone police" to their other duties. They don't want to be the first line of enforcement or waste classroom time collecting cellphones or getting into squabbles with students who don't want to give them up.

When it comes to parents, Kramer said many favor it, but there are some who worry about their ability to contact their kids.