As most of you know, there was a new policy introduced to schools in the state of NY where students are prohibited from using cellphones during school hours. If however, you do not know this policy, it is a cellphone ban for schools K-12 in the 2025 to 2026 school year, which prohibits students from using cellphones and any internet-enabled devices not provided by the school. This was enacted to create a more social and engaged environment for students. Most schools have students placing their phones in a pouch everyday before school, and are prohibited from taking it out during school hours. 

This cellphone ban began in September 2025, and has currently been going on for 9 months. With this new ban, schools may or may not have changed, changed for the worst, or the better. At FDR (Franklin Delano Roosevelt), teachers and students have given their responses to this change. 

Two teachers and two students were interviewed, and these were the questions and responses. 

How do you feel the cell phone ban has impacted classroom dynamics and student engagement?

Teacher responses:

• I think it makes students more likely to talk to each other, and we teachers no longer have to spend as much class time telling students to put their phones away.
• I didn’t see a big difference overall. Some students talked more, but students already talked to each other before the ban.

Student responses: 

• I don’t think it changed much because students already talked to each other before the ban, and people still use their phones anyway. 
• I feel like the cell phone ban has not impacted classroom dynamics and student engagements in any major ways since students already interacted and participated before it started. 

Have you noticed any changes in student behavior or attitudes?

Teacher responses: 

• Yes, it seems like students are talking to each other more in their free time rather than just going on their phones.
• There were some small changes like more social interactions, but overall, student behavior mostly stayed the same. I also noticed that many students put most of their attention on the pouches rather than the work assigned, but this only happened for some students though.

Student responses: 

• Not really. Most students act the same as before, and people still try to use their phones whenever they can. 
• There were some small changes, but overall most students behave the same as they did before the ban. 

Has the ban impacted your workplace in any way?

Teacher responses:

• It has made it better since we no longer has to police kids and tell them to put their phones away. 
• It has reduced some phone related issues, but work doesn’t usually involve the use of cellphones.

Student responses:

• School feels mostly the same, with just more rules to follow. 
• There really wasn’t much of an impact on my workplace.

Did you see any change in students’ academic performance?

Teacher responses: 

• There was basically no difference between before and after.
• I did not see any major changes in academic performances.

Student responses: 

• I didn’t notice any major difference in grades or performance since I never really used my phone in class originally. It could have helped students who were constantly on their phones, but from what I’ve seen, many of those students still don’t care much about class. 
• There has not been much change in my grades since phones never really helped or affected my grades in the first place.

Over the course of the school year, have you noticed any trends or changes in the effectiveness of the pouches?

Teacher responses:

• Students have been attempting to break the yondr pouches, and they potentially have been successful.
• Students most likely found ways to break or bypass these pouches since I still see kids using their phones.

Student responses:

• The pouches don’t seem very effective because students found ways around them, and I still see phones out almost every day. Students seemed to care less about the pouches, so they also became less effective.  
• As the school year went on, the pouches seemed to matter less since students got more used to the rules and found ways to adjust to them. 

In summary, this cell phone ban has increased social interactions and created a more talkative environment, but not by a noticeable amount since students had already talked to each other before this ban. Also, the phones being in the pouch has been a distraction at times since students would want to have their phones. Students have also found ways to bypass the system and actually just have their phones around. So unlike the start of the school year, the effects have changed, and it looks like there are possibly more cons rather than pros.