School Leaders, Students Say Bell-to-Bell Cellphone Ban Has Been a Massive Success
By ERIC SANTOMAURO-STENZELOTSEGO COUNTY
Local school leaders are saying the New York State school cellphone ban has been a huge success, increasing student engagement and decreasing behavioral issues.
“Teachers are excited about it. Students are more engaged,” Oneonta High School Principal Kevin Stevens said in an interview. Students “like that they’re talking more with their friends and have less time being spent on their own personal devices.”
Some of those students, Oneonta High School seniors Anna Schultz and Hudson Pasternak, told AllOtsego they were surprised by how well the policy has played out.
“My immediate reaction was that it wouldn’t be able to work, that there’s no way to put the cell phones away,” Schultz said.
Pasternak said he was even annoyed. Now, “I think students are so much less distracted,” Pasternak said.
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