NY Students Banned From Using Phones First Hated, Then Loved It

  • Schools see better grades, student engagement after phone ban
  • NY governor plans to propose statewide phone ban in schools

A student places their cellphone in to a phone holder as they enter class.

Photographer: Rick Bowmer/AP Photo

Signs of withdrawal began to show immediately.

At a high school in upstate New York that had banned mobile phones, a student was constantly reaching for her non-existent device and grabbing air. Hallways rang with the sound of kids trying to smash locks and get to their devices. At another school in the Bronx, students plotted a protest.