Gov. Kathy Hochul insisted that children are better off not having cellphones during school shootings and classroom emergencies because their devices could tip off their location to maniacs.
Hochul’s comments Sunday come after a controversial bell-to-bell cellphone ban in New York classrooms took effect last week, igniting controversy from parents who want to be able to contact their kids during the school day.
“I had the same fears,” Hochul (D) told “Fox News Sunday” when asked about The Post’s reporting on parents who fear the policy will mean their kids won’t have phones in emergency situations.
“What I learned from law enforcement two years ago, the last thing your child should have in their possession, if there’s a shooter on campus or in the building, is a cellphone,” she continued. “That could telegraph where your child is.
“They need to be 100% focused on the adult in the room, that teacher who’s gone through countless hours of training.”
Some 39 states have some form of restrictions against cellphones in the classrooms, and at least 18 states, as well as Washington, DC, have bell-to-bell bans on phones during the school day.
Motivating the move is new research about the impact that cellphones can have on learning. Last year, psychologist Jonathan Haidt’s book “The Anxious Generation” went viral and inspired state politicians to evaluate the prevalence of phones in the classroom.
Hochul signed the policy into effect in May but some parents were uneasy about the dramatic change in the Big Apple last week.
“If somebody’s coming here and they shoot up the school, how is my kid gonna call me?” parent Ebony Holmes said.
The New York governor stressed that “change is hard.”
“You have to wonder why for the last decade, we’ve even allowed children to have this distraction device in their hands,” she said.
“They’re not learning. They’re not engaging with other students. You walk into a hallway [in] a school that allows cellphones — the halls are silent.”
Her office highlighted comments from law enforcement and school officials about how schoolchildren’s use of cellphones during emergencies can fuel pandemonium and false alarms.
“The use of mobile phones by students during a quickly developing school emergency is a distraction that could compromise the safety of students and school staff,” New York State Police Superintendent Steven James previously said.
Hochul’s team also highlighted an op-ed from Albany Sheriff Craig Apple and New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) President Melinda Person about cellphone use during emergencies.
“If there is a shooting or crisis in the building, students need to be completely focused. They need to pay attention to instructions, get the correct information, and stay aware of their surroundings,” Apple and Person wrote in the piece.
“Worst of all, phones can make kids easier to find for someone who intends them harm. When students are trying to hide from a shooter in the building, a phone can make noise and emit light that gives away their location, making them a target.”
Hochul’s team also suggested that schools have procedures in place to contact parents during emergency situations and ensure they get accurate information during crises.
The Empire State governor also stressed that she “didn’t come to this decision lightly” and predicted that children in New York “are going to be smarter, more well-adjusted and more highly functioning adults when they leave our system” as a result of the policy change.
