As the 2025-2026 academic year kicks off, New York state’s cellphone ban has gone into full swing.

In April, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation to place a statewide bell-to-bell ban on smartphone usage in all K-12 classrooms. However, the restriction did not go into place until this academic year.

“For too long, students have sat in schools with their cellphones in their hands, distracted by looking at TikTok dance videos,” Hochul said Thursday at a middle school in New York City. “You don’t realize it right now, but by the end of this school year, you’re going to be happier, have more friends, be smarter, and that’s what we’re here at school for.”

While studies have found that teenagers who spend more than three hours per day on social media face double the risk of devel

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