Airplane Mode: Initial Reactions to NYC Classrooms Going Device-Free

The end bell rings at Stuyvesant, but instead of being flooded with the usual sea of glowing screens, the hallways remain dull as pockets stay zipped. Imagine a high school with no buzzing notifications, no sneaky DM’s under the desk, no scrolls on TikTok or Instagram, not even a crowded escalator full of students cramming on their phones at the last minute. Under New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s updated Chancellor’s Regulation A-413, the 2025-2026 school year will begin with an interesting surprise for New York City Public School students: the implementation of a personal device ban in school buildings. 

Unless teachers or faculty members make an authorized exception, students will not be able to use their own internet-enabled electronic devices on school property during the school day. The statewide “bell-to-bell” policy was introduced by Hochul to minimize distractions in classrooms. This ban includes, but is not limited to, cellphones, smartphones, smartwatches, laptops, tablets, and iPads.

Director of Family Engagement Dina Ingram recently released a statement on behalf of Principal Seung Yu outlining what the phone ban means for Stuyvesant. In the statement, it was made clear that starting September 4, 2025, students will be prohibited from using personal internet-enabled devices inside the building between 8:00 a.m. to 3:35 p.m.. To enforce this policy, each student will be issued a personal pouch on the first day of school to safely store smartphones and smartwatches. These pouches are to remain in students’ lockers, bags, or backpacks and may only be accessed under the supervision of staff or faculty for approved educational purposes. If students go outside for their lunch or free periods, they are permitted to take their devices with them.

Sophomore Caucus Co-President Elly Wu Feng recently had a meeting with Principal Seung Yu concerning the policy. In an email interview, she reported, “the pouches will be self-regulated. The first month of school will be a ‘testing period’ to see how well self-regulating turns out. If the administration sees that students are not adhering to the rules, teachers and deans will start checking cameras and going to your locations to actually take away your devices. And your parents will have to come in during school hours to get them back.”

For Stuyvesant students, this shift could mark the start of more productive days or spark chaos for a school that thrives on multitasking. For senior Janice Chan, this new rule seems unnecessary. "If the intent of the ban was to improve education, I definitely don’t see it having that outcome since education is evolving to incorporate technology anyway,” Chan explained in an email interview. From in-class assignments to homework, so much of schoolwork is digital; phones can be an extension of the classroom. “I’ve used my phone a lot while in school, but it’s always been for stuff that’s actually useful to me: checking the time during passing and during my frees, checking and answering emails, adding stuff to my to-do list, listening to music when I’m studying, texting people for club meetings, group projects, and meeting up for lunch,” Chan elaborated. Banning phones inside Stuyvesant would disrupt the flow of productivity, cutting students off from the digital tools and constant connectivity that so much of our academic and extracurricular lives depend on.

This ban could also limit the productivity of students during lunch and free periods. Without phones or personal computers, students are unable to complete homework assigned online or study for upcoming tests using online resources. For senior Veronika Gulko, this is becoming a harsh reality. “I spend a lot of my free time by myself (i.e., during frees, lunch, or work periods), mostly to recharge and focus on my own work for school, extracurriculars, and my job,” she explained in an e-mail interview. “This year will be significantly more stressful since I do my homework the same day it’s due, and I am not sure how this is going to work now.”

Senior and President of the Student Union Cayla Chew echoed a similar concern, especially considering impending college applications. “As a senior also working on college applications and who is used to doing all their work during school hours, handling this workload on top of not being able to do a majority of my work until I get home, means I have to relearn a system that works for me,” she explained in an email interview. Having had access to her devices throughout her first three years at Stuyvesant, Chew sees the new restrictions as a major shift. “After spending three years being able to freely use our cellphones and other internet devices whenever we could, not even being able to use your laptop to do work is such a drastic change,” she said. 

Some students also fear the repercussions the device ban will have on their extra curricular activities. As a writer for The Spectator’s News Department, sophomore Jennifer Zheng relies heavily on her phone for her journalism. Like many writers, Zheng uses her phone to communicate with interviewees and record their conversations—tasks that the new ban makes far more difficult. “The phone ban will be disadvantageous for me since there are times when my or my interviewees’ plans have changed and interviews have had to be conducted another day. We communicated by using our cell phones,” Zheng explained in an email interview. Without her phone, she worries miscommunication with her interviewees could occur, or she could be left out of the loop on important information, meetings, and updates. 

Furthermore, the ban could prove especially disruptive for athletes like sophomore and Track and Field member Mariam Sharikadze. Many student athletes depend on their phones for communication with their coaches, whether for last-minute schedule changes or updates on practice times. “The phone ban will impact communication for athletes. Schedules for where and when to meet up are always given through e-mails. Alongside this, changes are also posted there, and if there was an instance where a meet-up place had changed, an athlete would only hear of it at the very end, which can most likely disrupt the flow of the team,” she explained in an email interview. Beyond communication, Sharikadze emphasized the role phones play during practices and competitions. “[In Track] our phones are used to time out speeds whenever we have practices and to see what our scores are after every race, so they do play a part when it comes to our career,” she added.

Sophomore and Stunt and Cheer member Mikeala Zurita Villacres voiced a similar concern. “I rely on my phone constantly. I need it to check for last-minute updates, for example, if practice is canceled or ends early. If I’m not feeling well or something comes up, I also use it to let my coach know I can’t make it to practice. Much of the time, I also use my phone to review my counts for stunts. Without access to my phone, it would be much harder to stay updated,” Villacres explained in an email interview.

Villacres’s concerns don’t end on the field. She also worries about the academic pressures of losing access to her devices during the school day. “Managing the workload is going to be a lot harder. I’ll have to cram everything at home instead of using my free time productively. I think a lot of other students will feel the same,” she commented. The shift, she fears, could even take a toll on student well-being: “It would affect my mental health. I’d feel more stressed about homework because instead of getting things done whenever I have a free, I’d have to push everything to when I’m home, which is overwhelming,” she described.

While students hoping to complete work during free or lunch periods have access to the library, some students worry about the availability of this. “The library has limited space, and with this rule, it will probably be more crowded than ever,” Villacres commented. “On top of that, not everyone focuses well in that kind of environment. For me, I like to [eat] a snack while doing homework, which is something that is not allowed at the library.”

Junior Kemal Cater also depends on their devices for productivity, and thus shares similar concerns. However,  Cater holds hope that the ban won’t be permanent. “As the ban gets implemented across the state, we’ll see what a negative effect it has, and hopefully it will either be repealed or amended,” they said. “We’ll [start to] see parents dislike the ban, [and] more and more kids will be complaining about not being able to study, work on homework, or talk to each other during school hours.” Cater even shared plans to take personal action against the policy. “Once the school year starts, I hope to work with my friends in the SU and at other schools to possibly start building a platform to approach the state and make changes,” they described.

Of course, it is important for Stuyvesant students to remember that, as disruptive as the ban may seem, it is still a state law—one that Stuyvesant has no control over. “It is important for everyone to remember that this is a state law, meaning that even with valid points against this ban, there is very little we could/can do about it in terms of getting around it,” Chew stated.

Beyond academics, students also have concerns over safety and communication. Feng feels uneasy about not being able to communicate with her parents immediately during urgent situations. “Sometimes my parents text me for emergencies and such, but now with the phone ban at school, it’s definitely going to be a hassle trying to communicate with my parents and friends,” she described. 

For students like Sharikadze, who has a younger sibling, not having access to a phone could disrupt her outside routines. “Outside of school, I have to pick up my brother whenever both of my parents are unable to do so, meaning I must stay in contact with them throughout the day to get notified of any sorts of change in the pick up schedule, so without my phone it could cause my family to panic over who’s picking up my brother at what day if there is a change taking place,” she explained. This uncertainty over safety extends beyond emergencies: students often rely on their phones to coordinate commuting, or simply to check in when plans change.

Understandably, parents have mixed feelings about the new ban: it can either be a safety catastrophe or a step toward enhanced focus in classrooms. Dulce Baldizon, parent of sophomore Rosemel Vilchez, shared her thoughts in an email interview. “On one hand, I thought that, good, this way the kids are not so distracted. On the other hand, it seemed not good to me because [in an] emergency they will not be able to communicate [with me since] they do not have a cell phone in their hands," she explained. “I am worried because I feel that the school is not prepared to notify me of an emergency in time.” For Baldizon, the ban feels like a tradeoff: while it might help students focus more in class and develop time management skills, it also leaves families uneasy about how quickly they can reach each other in critical moments. 

Despite all of this concern, Feng notes that the administration recognizes how overwhelming these changes may feel and is working to ease the transition. “As tedious as this is, our school is also working hard to add more resources for us to use at school. The administration is trying to add more computers and printers to make resources more accessible [for] everyone,” she explains.

Chew echoed a similar sentiment. “We have also been working with administration on looking into possible partnerships with the places around Stuyvesant to possibly get Stuyvesant students access to a place to sit and use their devices (for hopefully productive uses),” she commented. Still, she acknowledged once again that the law leaves little room for flexibility, and as much as students want to find loopholes around the regulations, there is nothing that can really be done. “To emphasize again, this is a law, and the school can and will get in trouble if there are more continuous instances of device use without permission,” she explained.

  As the start of the school year approaches, uncertainty looms over how the ban will reshape daily life at Stuyvesant and across the state. Much of the skepticism stems from the role technology plays in education; removing devices threatens to complicate students’ routines, potentially disrupting productivity and collaboration throughout the school day. Even beyond academics, the ban raises questions about practicality, safety, and enforcement.

  What's left is a cautious waiting game. The policy has yet to be tested inside the building, leaving its true consequences unknown. The coming months will determine whether the ban fosters a more focused environment or prompts reconsideration at higher levels of administration. For now, what is certain is that this change marks a turning point in how schools define the role of technology in education—a turning point that students have no choice but to adjust to.