Smartphones are not just a needless distraction; they are toxic to children’s development. They foster addiction to social media (especially for girls) and online games (mainly for boys).
Parents trying to restrict their kids’ phone time often find it cuts them off from socializing because “everyone else” hangs out that way.
Schools that expect kids to do classwork on their phones are damaging those students.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, a mother and grandmother, plans to advocate for a ban on smartphones in schools during the next legislative session in January.
This initiative follows two other bills she is promoting to safeguard children’s privacy and protect them from social media-related despair: the New York Child Data Protection Act and the Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act.
Hochul proposes allowing simple “dumb” phones that can send texts but can’t access the internet, as parents often want to communicate with their children easily.
If companies like Meta and TikTok don’t self-regulate to protect child users, it’s up to the government to create necessary safeguards.
In taking on the tech giants, Hochul is fighting to protect kids from what she calls “the defining problem of our time.” It’s a cause and a campaign that all New Yorkers should support.
