[UPDATE BELOW]The controversial school cell phone ban is expected to be lifted today, ending a dozen-plus year standoff among parents, elected officials, and young, budding 2048 addicts.
Mayor de Blasio is expected to announce new regulations regarding cell phones in city schools today, having promised to lift the ban last year. The new rules will reportedly put cell phone use and regulation in the hands of school principals, who will work with teachers and parents to determine where phones are stored and where/when they can be used on school premises.
Technically, cell phones, beepers and the like have been banned in schools since the wild wireless telecomm 1980s. But Mayor Michael Bloomberg rankled concerned parents back in 2006, when he started having officials spring surprise phone inspections on unsuspecting students.
Not all schools consistently implement the ban, though others, especially those with metal detectors, are much stricter. Some principals and school officials say keeping phones out of schools cuts down on thefts, cheating and other distractions. But many parents say the ban is a safety issue and makes it difficult to get in contact with their children in an age where phone booths are scarce and constant communication is a given. In 2011, parents were particularly vocal about ending the ban, after 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky was murdered while walking home from camp.
The Department of Education has not yet responded to request for comment.
Update 11:10 a.m.: Per a press release from the Mayor's office, the ban is officially lifted today. Next month, the Panel for Educational Policy will decide whether to approve the new regulations, which require principals to tailor regulations using a number of options for their schools. If approved, the regulations will go into effect on March 2nd.
The New York Civil Liberties Union commended the ban lift. NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman offered the following statement:
For nearly a decade, the cell phone ban has imposed enormous burdens on parents and children who need to be able to communicate with each other before students arrive home from school. Cell phones have also been a needless flashpoint of confrontation between children and the police personnel who work in their schools. Particularly in schools with metal detectors where students are overwhelmingly low-income black and Latino youth, a confrontation over a cell phone too often results in a pointless dustup between children and the officers they are supposed to trust and respect. That creates ill will and mistrust. Worse, it too often ends in the kids who need help the most missing school because of a suspension, ticket or even an arrest. The de Blasio administration should be commended for taking this important step. New York City now needs to undertake a major reform of school discipline policies and the role of police in the schools. It is time to end the Bloomberg era over-reliance on harsh and exclusionary discipline tactics that too off shipped off our most vulnerable youth to the police precinct instead of the guidance counselor or principal’s office. All New York City children deserve safe, secure and nurturing schools. Adopting common sense and humane discipline policies is a crucial step in making that vision a reality.
