LACKAWANNA, N.Y. — The question at Thursday night’s town hall for the Lackawanna City School District was, do cellphones belong in schools?
It’s a question that students, parents, teachers, and administrators have been debating for weeks since the school district announced earlier this month that it will become one of the first in Western New York to ban student cellphones throughout the day with its new “No Cell, Bell to Bell” policy.
The district will require sixth through 12th-grade students to place their phones in gray pouches that will lock with a magnet at the beginning of the school day and won’t unlock until the end.
“What we notice is that in the classroom, they're not paying attention,” superintendent Nadia Nashir said. “They can't help themselves. We can't help ourselves as adults sometimes.”
It comes in response to research that shows phone free schools can reduce distractions and cyber bullying, enhance focus on learning and improve student well being. The ban also follows a push by Gov. Kathy Hochul earlier this summer to ban cellphones in schools across the state due to the dangerous role she believes social media can play in a student’s learning experience.
Parents such as Bernadette Powell attended Thursday’s meeting to provide feedback on the new rule. She said she understands the decision.
“[My daughter is] supposed to be focused on her studies,” she said. “She doesn't need to be on her phone. If she's distracted, she's not learning anything.”
But other parents like Amanda Frey have concerns and worry about not being able to reach their children.
“Anything could happen,” she said. “In my opinion, bombs can start dropping anytime, anywhere, coming from anywhere. If our kids are evacuated and their phones are in these pouches, they can't even call us and say, ‘Hey, we had to leave in a hurry. This is where we're heading.’”
The district acknowledged the direction it’s heading may be scary to parents, but it is urging them to trust in them and their policies. The district said there will also be exceptions for certain students, like those that need their phones for medical reasons.
“I'm learning to trust. It's not all the way there yet,” Powell said. “We'll see how they handle this. We'll see how the communication improves.”
The school year begins Tuesday for the district where the new policy will take effect.