Students not in favor of cell phone ban at Lackawanna schools

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The Lackawanna City School District is rolling out a new cell phone ban for students, but not everyone is happy about it.

The ban, which was announced earlier in the summer, will require students to put their phones in pouches that are locked throughout the school day. When the school day is done, the pouches will be unlocked.

Many students are not in favor of the change.

“Me personally, I like my phone,” student Skye Frost said. “But I also think it is taking my learning away but me personally I like my music when I learn. If I was listening to music while learning it’s a better experience for me, I don’t have to listen to everybody talking, everybody arguing, everything in the background.”

School superintendent Nadia Nashir said she thinks students will get used to the ban.

“Our students like no other generation is more anxious, more depressed, more lonely,” she said. “They need our support as adults to teach them how to manage the use of cell phones.”

The state is considering a similar ban statewide.

School begins in Lackawanna on Sept. 3. There will be another meeting on the new cell phone policy on Aug. 29 at Lackawanna High School.

Jeff Preval is an award-winning anchor and reporter who joined the News 4 team in December 2021. See more of his work here .