Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
NYC students head back to the classroom, but have to check their smartphones first
By
Jessica Gould
Published Sep 4, 2025
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Lea Suzuki via Getty Images
By
Jessica Gould
Published Sep 4, 2025
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
James Teal has had a lot of responsibilities as a school aide during his nearly three decades at Health Opportunities High School in the Bronx. And starting today, he'll add another one to the list: phone enforcer.
It’s the first day of school for New York City's approximately 900,000 public school students. That means New York’s smartphone ban is officially live.
Gov. Kathy Hochul and lawmakers put the ban into the state budget last spring, saying it was time to end the epidemic of distraction in class and help kids get a break from social media during the school day.
The law left it to the schools to decide how to best enforce the ban. At Health Opportunities, that means Teal’s days — which include helping at lunch, monitoring the halls and helping in classrooms — will now be bookended by collecting and distributing phones to students.
Some students have said they want to be separated from their phones so they can focus and socialize, including members of the teen Luddite Club who embrace flip phones and reject social media.
But many students say they're annoyed and frustrated.
Josiah George is starting out as a freshman at Food and Finance High School in Manhattan, where he said he doesn’t know anyone.
“During the first day, I'm kind of thinking, ‘Oh if I don't make any friends by lunch then I'm gonna be sitting by myself with no phone. Just sitting there,” he said, adding that his phone makes him feel connected to his old friends, and “safe.”
Speaking on "The Brian Lehrer Show" on Tuesday, Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles Ramos said the transition to the ban may not be seamless but urged patience for students and educators.
James Teal, a school aide at Health Opportunities High School in the Bronx, is responsible for collecting students' smartphones.
James Teal
Ahead of Thursday’s return to school, Teal shared with Gothamist how he is approaching the new responsibility.
The interview with Teal has been lightly edited for clarity:
How is the phone ban going to work?
When the student is coming in the morning, we will be in the front and they have little boxes that they have to insert their phones into and then they go about the regular school day. We lock the phones up and secure them and put them away and then they pick them up at the end of the day.
And is this the first year your school has had a smartphone ban?
In the past, they would have a pouch and they would walk around with it. But what happened was, when they had the pouches, they were going to the bathroom, banging them on the floor and opening them up. Now they actually put them in the boxes and we secure them in the office and then they get them at the end of the day.
We’re all somewhat addicted to our phones. How can you help kids through this?
Even if you’re having a bad day, this is the protocol. The administrator is going to be there and I guess if it comes down to it they will call the counselors downstairs.
What’s your opinion of the smartphone ban?
I think it's good because now you get to deal with the student again. Before you could be talking to your kids and they had their faces down in the phone, so now you get to have eye contact again.
What’s your favorite part of the job?
My favorite part of my job is basically helping the students that need help, and that are willing to accept help when they know they need it.
Phone Ban Basics
What is included in the ban?
All smartphones, smart watches, personal tablets or other personal internet-enabled devices are prohibited during the school day. Kids are permitted to have flip phones that are not connected to the internet. Schools also have to make sure there’s a way for parents to reach kids in emergencies.
There are some exceptions, such as kids who have medical needs like insulin monitors or assistive technology for learning disabilities.
Where will phones be stored?
There’s a wide range of strategies. Many are using magnetic pouches that have to be locked and unlocked at the end of the day. Some have deans or school aides collecting the phones and putting them in storage lockers. At Brooklyn Tech, the nation’s largest high school, kids will be storing their phones in Velcro pouches, with the idea that any effort to open the pouch will be audible. Some schools simply require kids to keep devices in their lockers.
What are the consequences for noncompliance?
Schools are being asked to come up with their own penalties, but the law says administrators can’t suspend students solely for sneaking in smartphones. At some schools, parents have to come pick up the phones themselves, or come in for a meeting after a certain number in fractions.
Kids are smart. Won’t they find loopholes?
Yes, kids have already reported a bunch of workarounds and loopholes, including submitting burner phones or buying special magnets off the internet to unlock pouches. There are TikTok videos explaining how to break some of the pouches.
Tagged
education
nyc
nyc public schools
Jessica Gould
Jessica is the education reporter for WNYC and Gothamist. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Jessica reported on the shutdown and reopening of the nation’s largest school system, highlighting the unprecedented impacts on learning, health and mental health for students, staff and families. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 4:15 p.m. ET
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
The Garden State now requires that corn masa dough and flour made and sold in the state be fortified with folic acid.
By
Arya Sundaram
News
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
The Garden State now requires that corn masa dough and flour made and sold in the state be fortified with folic acid.
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910
By
Michael Sol Warren
NYC nor’easter dries up after weather service reports minor flooding
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .