These days, lunchtime at Benjamin N. Cardozo High School in Queens is a boisterous affair, a far cry from before the smartphone ban went into effect, when most students spent their spare time scrolling and teachers said you could hear a pin drop.
“This year's gotten way louder,” said Jimena Garcia, 15. “Sometimes I would take naps in the lunchroom, but now I can't because of the noise. But it's fun.”
On a recent fall afternoon, Garcia and her friends crowded around a lunch table in the large cafeteria playing Jenga, occasionally shrieking and gasping as the tower began to lean and fall.
The faculty donated board games to help ease kids into the phone-free era. Student volunteers oversaw a table stacked with games: checkers, chess, Yahtzee, Scrabble, Clue, Life and Trivial Pursuit. For many of the kids, it was their first time playing the games, and they said they were enjoying it.
“ I do like how this phone ban is allowing students to just connect with each other, make new friendships,” said 17-year-old Alyssa Ko, the school president. “Because some people use their phone to just hide away.”
The ban prohibits all internet-enabled devices throughout the school day, although there are exceptions for some students with disabilities, kids learning English who need translation apps, and in cases where a teacher says a device can be used for a lesson.
Schools were given flexibility to choose their own storage plans, and Cardozo, which rolled out metal detectors this fall after a student was found with a gun, requires its 3,100 students to keep their phones in internet-blocking magnetic pouches. Other schools have installed storage lockers, or have kids keep their phones zipped up in backpacks.
As students adjust to lo-fi life, teachers seem pleased with the results. According to an October survey from the state teachers union, New York State United Teachers, 89% of school staff members said the new policies improved their schools' environments, and 76% said kids are more engaged in lessons.
“When students put down their phones, they pick up books — and build friendships,” said NYSUT president Melinda Person.
The initial feedback reflects national trends. New York is one of 31 states, plus Washington, D.C. that have banned smartphones in schools, according to an EdWeek tracker. In a national survey from the University of Pennsylvania, teachers said banning phones helps kids focus.
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