Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) holds a press briefing on restricting smartphone use in New York schools.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Morning, we just had a very enlightening conversation with teacher some students
00:07parents and
00:08leaders of common-sense media
00:10Which has done an amazing job championing our efforts for safety for children
00:15but particularly on a distraction free environment in schools, which
00:19Whose time has come and I want to thank
00:22All of the leaders there. They're out here lobbying all day. You got to be going to different offices. I know you have a letter that has
00:30It's 80,000 signatures
00:33They'll be making sure everyone has a letter from common-sense me to talk about why they're focusing so much on this and
00:40We think about the fact that our number one job
00:46And elected leaders as parents is to protect children
00:51They are vulnerable
00:53They may be teenagers and think they know everything. I know I've raised teenagers
00:57But sometimes there's a cry for help that goes unanswered
01:01because people allow the status quo to continue the status quo right now in the state of New York is
01:07Unacceptable because we have an environment in school
01:10which should be distraction free the focus should be on the teacher in front of the classroom and
01:15During break time the focus should be on deepening relationships creating human connections
01:21Whether it's in the hallway, whether it's study hall, whether it's a lunch
01:25This has been lost
01:27Childhoods have been stolen by a cell phone that has become all-encompassing
01:32That has been the primary focus for years now and that has to stop
01:38We are seeing the decline in mental health of our children like we could never have predicted
01:42There's enough stress to be a young person whether you're in middle school or high school
01:45There's enough stress, but to have to worry about whether you're being mocked out on social media
01:50There's a gathering that people are excluding you and people are mocking out your clothes. These are real stories. I've heard from students
01:56It's too much and it's so hard to be a teacher
02:00the teachers 72% of whom say they can't compete anymore they can't compete and
02:07Teachers are frustrated because they want to help the children succeed parents want their children to succeed
02:11But we've set them up for failure by allowing this to continue so long
02:15It's not an easy lift because they're always forces against change
02:20It's gonna be a dramatic change
02:22But I've been talking about this for over a year now. I've
02:25Continued to meet people all over the state. I've taken on in this very room the
02:31administrators and and
02:33Super school superintendents and school board and talk to them about is this the best situation for our children now?
02:39They have told me they know it's not
02:41But it's hard to be the one who says no. I
02:45Will be the one who says no. That's why in my budget. I just announced
02:50Landmark piece of legislation something. I'm championing right now in the next few weeks as we negotiate the budget, which is an entirely
02:57Bell to bell distraction free environment for our students. I'm committed to the cause as
03:03Our leaders from common sense. I want to thank them once again for what they're doing for us, but
03:09How can we continue something to keep going on in our state that we know is harmful to the mental health of our kids
03:17Let's liberate our children. Let's get this done. Thank you very much
03:20And with that I'm going to bring up Allison DeVore to deliver some remarks for us, Allison
03:30Good morning, and thank you governor
03:32I'm a New York mother of two sons two teenage sons
03:37One of them goes to a very large top public high school in New York City
03:43I'm also a proud member of the New York Advisory Council of common-sense media and
03:48common sense is the largest child safe child advocacy organization protecting kids online and
03:55enabling kids to thrive in the digital world
03:58We had a great discussion this morning and appreciate the time that the governor has spent
04:04Listening to the teachers to the two parents like myself and health experts on this issue
04:11This legislation
04:13this legislative session
04:15Gives lawmakers a crucial opportunity to help New York schools become less
04:21Distracted learning spaces and that includes the hallways and the cafeteria
04:26common-senses research reveals that smartphone distractions are significantly impacting the academic achievement and the well-being of the students
04:35Nearly 70% of teens report that social media distracts them from schoolwork
04:40And other studies have consistently found negative correlations between their achievements in the classroom and the use of the phone
04:48The evidence is clear
04:51Smartphones in classrooms and in the schools are disrupting the learning
04:56Environments and the kids ability to socialize in between and process the learning
05:02The evidence is clear and the governor's proposal supports mental health students mental health
05:08Academic success and well-being
05:10Not by eliminating tech, but by creating spaces where students can fully engage with learning and with their peers
05:18We also strongly support governor
05:21Hockels AI safety proposals and would reduce that will reduce harm to children from AI
05:27companions and would make it illegal to use AI to create child sexual abuse material in New York and
05:35Common sense is in Albany today
05:37On a number of other issues with the same goal to protect our kids online
05:44My husband and I have struggled to manage screen time for our sons
05:49Even though we both have tech backgrounds our kids and their peers are constantly lured by the algorithms
05:57Embedded in the social media and the video game sharing platforms
06:01They cannot stop their brains have not developed yet
06:04making it difficult for them to complete their homework to get enough sleep and
06:08Maintain their health and to finish their work and learn within the classroom because their focus is somewhere else
06:15Children's and teens brains are still developing particularly in areas related to self-control
06:21Impulse regulation and decision-making so it makes it hard for them to stop watching
06:26Their brains do not fully mature until the mid to late 20s
06:31And make it which makes it even harder for students to resist the instant gratification of the technology in the school
06:39Research shows that teens who spend more than three hours a day on social media
06:44double their risk for depression and anxiety and
06:48multiple studies
06:49Demonstrate that the explosion of social media use has contributed to a rise in
06:55anxiety
06:56Depression rates of self-harm and suicide among children and teens
07:01Families will always play a critical role in managing our children's digital lives
07:07We recognize this but we cannot do this alone. It's too difficult and we can't manage it at the schools
07:14Just ask any parent. We need the state of New York on our side
07:19We urge the New York State Legislature to pass these proposals this session
07:25Each day we wait to intervene puts millions of children and
07:30Teens and their educational future and well-being at risk
07:35Thank you
07:38At this point, I'm Muna heaven who is an attorney and a member of common-sense media
07:43She has very important remarks to share as well
07:49Good morning, my name is Muna heaven. I'm a child welfare attorney
07:54Mama ambassador and my most important job. I'm a single mother of a 16 year old
08:03We live in Harlem where my daughter goes to public school and she's in the 11th grade I
08:11Don't think I've ever met a single parent in my entire career that doesn't want their child to do well
08:18Even with their own faults and what we want is for children our children
08:23To be able to be the best that they can be
08:27Also in school, they should be able to learn without any distractions
08:33We know well that the exploitation of children is not only physical
08:38But it has taken root
08:40digitally in the minds of our children
08:42The Internet has indeed spun a very clever web
08:48Where social media has unlocked the minds of children in the seemingly?
08:55Eternal abyss of the endless scroll
08:59The rate of addiction is clear. It is harmful and
09:04Sometimes it kills
09:07To me
09:08School is a sacred
09:11Beautiful place where eager minds should have the space to flourish
09:15School should never be a place where there is competition between learning and scrolling
09:22This is why I am very much in favor of governor Hogan's bell-to-bell distraction free school proposed schools proposal
09:30As a mother, I'm glad that it provides ways for parents to be able to contact their children in the day if necessary
09:37There are also exceptions for children with IEPs and
09:41Also for those children who need internet enabled who need an internet enabled device to manage a medical condition
09:49The time has certainly come for us to reestablish some balance in our classrooms the worldwide
09:55Well, the World Wide Web has indeed become a worldwide problem
10:01But in New York in New York State
10:04This is where the changes get made
10:07And our governor is not afraid to run this race at the front
10:13So we look to New York again
10:15To light the way last year. We passed groundbreaking proposals to protect to protect kids and teens online
10:23We've done it before and we're going to do it again, but we absolutely need your help. I
10:31Want to thank governor Hockel and common sense media for inviting me to join this
10:37Important event today
10:38I want to thank you on behalf of every child that I've had the privilege of serving in my career
10:44And I ask that you invest in their present and their future. Thank you
10:52Well done now we're going to hear from an 11th grade student Lillian door
10:56Good morning. My name is Lily Dewar. I'm a junior at Massapequa High School on Long Island. I
11:03Think that cell phones should be restricted at school because they are a big distraction
11:09Everyone at school is always checking their phones
11:11Even when they should be focusing on their work or even having a face-to-face conversation with their friend. I
11:17Often feel the need to pick up my phone and look at it
11:20Maybe to check a text or text a friend or family member on the phone
11:25To check a text or to look at the latest updates on my social media
11:29During free periods like lunch and study hall. Everyone is always checking their phones, and I think we do it purely out of habit. I
11:37Think that if we couldn't look at our phones during the school day
11:40My friends and I would feel much more relaxed and less anxious and distracted
11:45I'd love to experience an entire school day. That's free of phones and free of social media
11:52With social media use I used to feel very insecure about what people posted about me and
11:57The friends post my friends post that did not include me. I
12:01Would compare myself to the to other people I knew and the friendships that they had within themselves
12:07This gave me a lot of stress and anxiety
12:11The main app that I use is tick-tock when the ban happened. I didn't go on the app for about a month. I
12:17Missed using tick-tock and felt upset
12:20But soon after I started to feel happier because I wasn't coping with anxious feelings through an app
12:26I began to journal and be mindful about how I feel using my phone less. I
12:32Hesitated from redownloading the app because I didn't know if it would give me anxiety again
12:37Ultimately, I decided to redownload it and I now use it significantly less than I used to I
12:43Remind myself what is important to me and what makes me happy. I
12:47Also remind myself that social media posts are a snapshot of someone's life or day and never the whole story
12:54This year. I'm taking a lot of tough classes and I have a part-time job. I am also going to play and take dance lessons
13:03Getting sleep for me is hard. I
13:05Often look at these apps when I'm supposed to be winding down
13:09Instead of these apps relaxing me they rent me up and make it very difficult for me to fall asleep
13:14So as a result a lot of days I feel tired I
13:18Hope governor Hochul and New York lawmakers will help kids like me have a healthier relationship with our phones. I
13:25Want to experience all the things that high school has to offer the good and the bad
13:30But I want to experience this as much as I can in real life and not through an app
13:36Thank You governor Hochul for what you were doing for New York kids like me
13:43Hi
13:56In a perfect world
13:58What would enforcement of this policy look like and would it be the same across all school districts, right?
14:03We're not looking for students to be suspended number one
14:06I mean, that's I think there's been efforts before that have failed because they were too aggressive
14:11But I also am well
14:13I'm deferential to local school districts and they can set in place how they want to they want the phone stored
14:20That is their local decision even what consequences ensue from that. So this is an area
14:25We'll leave it up to them except that we expect that they'll abide by the bell-to-bell
14:30Policy and with no exceptions to that except for the ones related to or English as a second language
14:36Health conditions or if it's pulled out during a technology class, for example, and the teacher allows it those are our conditions
14:50We are you talking about what consequences they get from the state
14:57There'll be regulations
14:59Related to how this is implemented and that question will be addressed in the regulations
15:03So everyone will have full awareness of what the consequences are
15:14The evidence is clear that there has been a decline cell phones have been prevalent in schools for about a decade now
15:20particularly more so in the last five or six years and really
15:23The pandemic drove a lot of young people that was their only connection with the world when they are learning from home
15:28So I do hope and anticipate and I'm not gonna be held to a number that it's going up to a certain percentage increase
15:35but common sense, which I run my life by common sense says that when the students are spending more time listening to the teacher and
15:43Focus on what is being supposed to be absorbed by them instead of staring at something. That is a complete distraction
15:48I have no doubt. This is a result in better academic outcomes, which are really important to us
15:54Not just for the students, but also their future success in the workplace and beyond
15:59Governor have you had a chance to look at the
16:02Legislature's one house budgets on this it appears the assembly omitted it entirely in the Senate
16:07May have added a caveat that could allow schools to allow for phones during non instructional periods
16:14That's obviously wouldn't be bell to bell. Is that open in negotiation?
16:19Well, we'll certainly begin negotiations on the entire budget and I've not had time to digest every part of
16:25What the one houses show but I'm committed to
16:30Fighting for bell to bell. This is what the experts say. This is what the parents want. This is what the teachers want
16:36I mean our teachers are saying you heard we heard this from Molly
16:40If the student has it banned during a class then they have it
16:44During recess and then they come back
16:46The next teacher has to be the enforcer and then the next teacher after gym class has to be the enforcer
16:52It'll be wildly wildly
16:54Distracting even more so for the teachers. Do you want to comment on that Molly? Well, he's our teacher
17:01Thank you, I think another really important part here is about the equity
17:05by making it bell-to-bell as Governor Hochul says
17:09Equity comes into play because now we are not talking
17:12Specifically to one student or another teacher or some teachers having one idea and other teachers having another idea
17:18Teachers are hoping that bell-to-bell means that you have a space to understand
17:24This is the this is the rule for everyone and this is the rule for every teacher and this is the rule for every student
17:30And I appreciate
17:31That you're that you're standing by that
17:35Thank You Molly Stamel
17:40Molly Stamel S T a M M E L
17:45A teacher is also the mother of Colin who is a sixth grader who we've liberated from school today, but his voice was important
17:52You owe me one Colin
17:5713.5 million
17:59Is that because districts asked for it and you know?
18:02Are you willing to spend more because some of the math shows if you were to count for yonder pouches or cubbies for everyone?
18:08It would be six times more right right in schools. Some schools have already gone ahead with this
18:13Visited some in this area and they literally have what looks like you're behind the door shoe rack when you're
18:19First out of college and you have that tiny apartment. There's no place to put your shoes
18:23You hang them in a shoe rack. They literally had something analogous to that
18:27So there are very low-tech ways to do it that have worked extremely well
18:30So there's no obligation that there being the most expensive version
18:34but we're putting money on the table just to show that we're there to help the school districts that are high need and
18:39This would help them get over the finish line here
18:41and so I'll look at the numbers, but
18:45I'm sure there's areas where when you have someone even expect no funding for this
18:49So I think that's a reason a lot of money just to help some school districts
18:53All right