Gov. Hochul planning to tackle smartphone use in schools

GUILDERLAND, N.Y. (WRGB) – There is a serious attempt underway to try to tackle smartphone use in schools.

Governor Kathy Hochul kicked off a statewide tour Monday with a stop at Guilderland High School, where administrators and teachers from several schools joined the Governor and lawmakers for a roundtable discussion about the ongoing issue of students using their phones in school.

For years, our Crisis in the Classroom reporting has touched on the negative impacts of the prevalence of the high-tech devices: distraction, increased bullying and https://cbs6albany.com/news/local/breaking-the-silence-youth-mental-health-crisis impacts as well as an uptick in fights that end up being documented by smartphone cameras, then shared on social media.

The Governor addressed concerns raised over parents not being able to contact their kids during an emergency like a school shooting:

“There are things that happen that are horrific and scary for parents more so than when I was raising kids so I acknowledge that fear factor in parents. But we have to find the right balance because our teachers are feeling that they have to be the classroom police on this, on top of everything else and no one’s getting the outcomes they think, that we know our children should have. Then we have a failure of a system,” the Governor said during the discussion.

The Governor’s office cites a Pew Research poll finding 72% of high school teachers nationwide say that students being distracted by cell phones is a major problem in their classroom.

Additional discussions with educators, parents and students will be held in the coming months.

Crisis in the Classroom is a weekly segment in which CBS 6 investigates issues faced by educators, students, and families. Send any tips to our team by emailing or by calling (518) 288-6034.