Six Months Later: A Review of the Cell Phone Ban

Charlotte Arzouian ’28

Beginning this school year, Bard High School Early College Manhattan implemented a new cell phone policy requiring students to turn in their phones from 9:00 a.m. to 3:28 p.m., effectively banning phone use for the entire school day. The policy aligns with a statewide law passed last May by New York Governor Kathy Hochul mandating that students not use “personal internet-enabled devices” during the school day, aimed at curbing distractions and supporting student mental health amid phone addiction.

In an interview with The Bardvark, Principal Brian Pew pledged his support to the phone policy, emphasizing that limiting phone access creates a healthier learning environment. “The thing I want to be very clear on is that I believe in this policy,” said Pew. “I fundamentally believe that young people, particularly in our school, but young people generally are curious. They want to learn, they like learning new things, and that a phone is such a powerful, strong distraction that I’ve worked with a lot of kids who don’t even know they like learning and are curious about things because they spend so much time on other people’s content.”

Throughout the summer, Pew hosted weekly meetings to determine how the policy would be implemented. While all schools were required to follow the Chancellor’s guidelines, each school was given discretion on enforcement. At BHSEC Manhattan, in attendance at those discussions were the school’s Steering Committee, consisting of Pew, the guidance counselor, a faculty representative from each academic department, and UFT Chapter Leader Professor Pflaum.

“Our starting point was that everyone agreed we should do this,” Pew said.

In addition to internal meetings, Pew solicited feedback from parents and students through multiple Zoom sessions and meetings with the Student Union. The policy was also introduced at a town hall in May 2025 and revisited in follow-up town halls in the fall.

Pew suggested that he never wanted to return the phones during the school day because he thinks it encourages addiction. In terms of logistics, he explored several options for phone storage, including Yondr pouches, which lock phones while students carry them during the day. However, he ultimately rejected that option, citing both cost and concerns about student behavior. “I knew immediately I was not going to use Yondr pouches or other systems because I don’t think they’re cost-effective,” he said. “I’ve seen students be the worst version of themselves trying to break them or lie about them.”

Instead, the school settled on a centralized phone collection system using carts with wheels located in the auditorium. Pew noted that the building’s layout creates a natural bottleneck in that area, making it the most practical location for collection. He also hired three additional school aides over the summer to manage the increased supervision and logistics.

Pew also explains that he reallocated the grant money originally earmarked for bathroom renovations toward technology purchases, with the goal being to move closer to a one-to-one student-to-computer ratio and reducing the need for personal devices during the school day. Pew also banned headphones in early November, suggesting in a town hall that it promotes a culture of “permissiveness.” However, Pew mentioned in the interview that he does not plan to take away laptops and he also thinks that having a conversation is more effective than taking disciplinary action on students.

The phone policy has received mixed feedback from students. Some comment on the foot traffic generated from the policy. A student who admitted they don’t turn in their phone but opted to remain anonymous said that “There's no point. You can get the same outcome with the students keeping the phones in their bags.” They added “it's such a hassle to get your phone back," which discourages them from following the policy.

Lionel D. ’29 suggested that “I think that the phone policy is a good idea because we do need to be off our phones and we do need to pay attention to our learning, but the fact that technology is so ingrained into our society and into our lives it feels like our rights are being stripped away from us when we come into school.” She also voiced frustrations on the headphone policy, suggesting “I also feel like they just keep adding more things onto it like the headphones and they don't tell us that until we've broken the rules.”

School aides tasked with enforcing the policy have expressed changes in student behavior. Chris Tucker suggested that "I think it's normal to not have the phone. Kids should be able to go 8 hours without a phone." Another school aide Christopher Padgett suggested that “Before this I have witnessed students standing with each other talking but through their phones. Now they look at each other, now if I greet a student they actually make eye contact. The foot traffic is tough because at the beginning of the year we had more help controlling the flow, it's harder now being only 2 people.” He mentioned that he is responsible for logging who brings in fake phones, as well as doing “hall sweeps,” where he monitors laptop usage.

As the school year continues, the phone policy remains a subject of debate. Whether the benefits outweigh the challenges is a question that continues to shape conversation throughout the BHSEC Manhattan community.