September 9, 2025
By Barrett Seaman–
When Governor Hochul signed the statewide ban on use of cell phones in public schools last June, she called it a “distraction-free schools policy.” Suffice it to say, cell phones are not the only distraction high school students face these days, but they have in recent years soared to the top of the list.
The new law requires students to refrain from operating smart phones; smart watches, smart pads or any other internet-capable device from the time classes begin in the morning until they end in the afternoon. The law leaves it to individual schools as to how to enforce the ban, but the object is the same: get kids’ faces out of the screens and onto the task at hand, which is learning and interacting with their teachers and fellow students—in person.
Many schools had already been moving in that direction before it became state law. Hastings-on-Hudson high school students previously had to turn in their phones at the start of classes. Kids at Irvington’s Dows Lane and Main Street Schools (K-5) “have always been discouraged from bringing smart phones or watches to school,” says Mara Ratesic, the district superintendent. “If they do, they are generally confiscated and parents are notified.” In the high school, “we had those canvas shoe racks where students would check them while in class.” However, that wouldn’t meet the new law’s criteria, says Ratesic, adding, “we are fortunate enough to enough lockers for every student in middle and high school,” so that’s where they must be stowed.
At Hastings High and Sleepy Hollow, students are required to stow their phones in pouches equipped with a magnetic release, similar to the gadgets clothing stores use to foil shoplifters. With state funding provided as part of the new law, the district was able to purchase enough pouches for every student, says TUFSD superintendent Ray Sanchez, noting that today’s students “don’t use lockers anymore; they carry everything around in backpacks.”
Administrators in the Ardsley and Dobbs Ferry school districts plan to rely on deterrence to enforce the new ban. Students are allowed to carry their devices but must keep them out of sight and not operate them without explicit authorization from a staff member. A first offense for violating the ban at Ardsley is confiscation for the remainer of the school day; second offense leads to confiscation with parental pickup after school, and a third offense brings a loss of all phone privileges at the school. At Dobbs Ferry, devices must be turned off and stored in a high school student’s hallway locker or a grade schooler’s classroom cubby hole.
Though not required to follow the state law, the rivertowns’ two private schools, Hackley and Masters take an approach not unlike those at Ardsley and Dobbs Ferry. At Hackley, phones must be turned off and out of sight during classroom hours, with exceptions made for authorized medical or academic accommodation. At Masters, phones must be turned off and stored in student backpacks from 8:30 a.m. until 3:05 p.m.–again with exceptions for medical or educational reasons. If a student is caught using a phone, it will be confiscated and returned after 3:05 p.m.
Administrators generally welcome the state mandate. “The Hastings community wanted more strictness on this issue,” says HUFSD superintendent William McKersie. “The clarity is going to help,” he adds. “I haven’t heard one complaint yet.” Mara Ratesic in Irvington agrees: “It’s been, so far, fairly well received and executed.”
While most parents and virtually all teachers would concur, students interviewed by The Hudson Independent express mixed feelings, bending towards the negative. One concern, shared by some parents, is the “what if” security question. “In the event of a shooting,” opined one Dobbs Ferry sophomore, “I’d be unable to contact my parents or the police.”
“If there is ever an emergency you can bet on every lucky star that students will take their phone out and assess the situation,” asserted a Sleepy Hollow sophomore.
Matteo, a Dobbs Ferry 9th grader observes: “Students feel less safe” without phones, he says. “The school should address issues like bullying rather than cell phones.”
School administrators are inclined to agree with law enforcement experts that while phones might give parents the means to check whether their child is safe during an active shooter incident, the sound of students talking on their phones during a lockdown is just as likely to alert the perpetrator as they are to reassure a parent.
A more common complaint from students is the inconvenience of phone deprivation. A Sleepy Hollow sophomore carped that the ban makes coordinating pick-up and sports practice times impossible. “My sister is a freshman here,” says an Ardsley junior named Daniel, “and I [would like to] call her so I can walk her home.”
“The ban won’t help students pay attention in class because the no-phone-in-class rule wasn’t really abused anyway, argues Abbie, an Ardsley 9th grader., “Nobody really went on it during class unless they were [given permission to],” she asserted.
A prevailing sentiment is that the total bell-to-bell ban is step too far. “Last year, we put our phones in our lockers where we could access them during lunch,” recalls an Irvington student named Aaron. “It was a perfect policy; we could call home,” he maintained. “Now they’re in our lockers the entire day and it’s hard to communicate with family. Jake, an Irvington schoolmate, quickly added: “…and in an emergency.”
So who is in favor of the ban? Almost spontaneously, three Irvington students responded in unison: “The teachers!”
Peter Kennedy, an 8th Grade English teacher at Sleepy Hollow High School, is one example. “It’s a greater sense of calm, and almost relief, when cell phones aren’t present,” he says. “If your phone vibrates in your pocket, it absolutely divides your attention, no matter the age.”
Judging the success of the new ban will undoubtedly take time. “The cultural shift will be incremental,” says Tarrytown/Sleepy Hollow superintendent Ray Sanchez, who advises that adults—administrators and teachers—should be careful not to flaunt their use of phones in front of newly-deprived students. “We have to think of ourselves modeling this. Our goal is through the lens of wellness for the kids.”
Irvington’s Ratesic notes with some amusement how students are finding themselves re-learning how to open their locker combinations: “Let’s see, two to the left, one to the right.” She says some students have started bringing a deck of cards to fill down time over lunch break. In a somewhat whimsical gesture of appreciation for students’ collective sense of deprivation, Irvington High School has installed an old-fashioned, red London-style phone box with a land line anxious kids could use to call home during a break.
–with reporting by Jeff Wilson and Dylan Smith
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