ROCHESTER, N.Y. — It’s been a full year since Gov. Kathy Hochul banned all cell phones from being used by students in public schools.

A recent nationwide study shows mixed results of the cell phone ban across multiple states. News10NBC’s Tom Kowalski spoke with school leaders and students at Rush Henrietta to see how they feel the cellphone ban is going one year into it.

The study shows while teachers have noticed a decrease in cell phone use, it’s had a minimal effect so far. Academic scores, attendance, attention and bullying have seen little to no change — something Rush Henrietta Superintendent Dr. Barbara Mullen says is reflected in her district.

Little local change

“I would say that our numbers are tracking pretty similarly. Particularly as it pertains to, you know, how students are really achieving in class, their focus, their attention, and then those particular areas, I think that’s something we’ve been pretty consistent around. Rush Henrietta is a district that performs above the state, in a lot of achievement areas,” Mullen said.

The studies also showed a first year rise, then drop in disciplinary actions — reflected by write up referrals in Rush Henrietta.

“What we have seen though, [is an] increase in referrals as we document the number of times we need to escalate and remind students perhaps multiple times to put the phone away,” Mullen said.

Students have mixed feelings

Students had mixed feelings about how the phone ban has affected their school lives.

“I feel like now that the phone [are] not in school, I can, like, do like homework and do a lot of things that I didn’t do before,” said Mika Afrima, a junior at Rush-Henrietta Senior High School.

“I believe that the phone ban, it is okay. But I don’t think it’s good for students because of the way that we are connected to the internet these days,” said Paul Wilkins, a senior.

“We kind of are kind of falling off. Just because we can’t use our phones, that makes us want to use our phones more. It’s making us like, you know, use [our phones] more and [it’s] failing our grades,” said Naomi Robinson, a sophomore.

Kowalski spoke with one teacher who didn’t want to go on camera who says that while she’s definitely seen improvements in the classroom itself, the hallways are a completely different story, and she wishes there was better enforcement at the school.

Public health crisis

The report comes as a new Surgeon General advisory classifies youth screen time as a public health crisis.

It recommends no screen time for children under 18 months. For kids between 18 months and six years old, health officials advise less than a single hour on a device each day.

For kids six to 18, health officials advise families to impose a strict two-hour limit of digital entertainment per day. Screen use can be associated with worse sleep, decreased functioning in school, less physical activity and weakened in-person relationships.

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