{"id":3370,"date":"2014-11-11T22:35:50","date_gmt":"2014-11-12T03:35:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stager.tv\/?p=3370"},"modified":"2026-03-03T05:26:50","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T10:26:50","slug":"why-the-nyc-schools-must-end-the-student-cellphone-ban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stager.tv\/?p=3370","title":{"rendered":"Why the NYC Schools Must End the Student Cellphone Ban"},"content":{"rendered":"

A couple weeks ago, I received an email from a New York Times reporter asking to interview me about Mayor Bill DiBlasio’s promise to end the ban on student cellphones in New York City public schools.. I replied immediately via email and called the reporter to tell her I was unavailable for a few hours, but that I provided my views on the subject via email from my iPhone. She agreed to call me later that day.<\/p>\n

Alas, that call never occurred and my views didn’t make the article<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So, instead of wasting 144 words, I’ll\u00a0share them below.<\/p>\n

While there may be educational benefits of phone access, there are three primary reasons why the ban needs to be lifted.<\/p>\n

1) it is unproductive to be arbitrarily mean to children. Schools would be well-served by lowering the antagonism level between children and adults.<\/p>\n

2) Parents have legitimate safety fears and a right to contact their child. A child should be able to call for help or report their whereabouts to and from school.<\/p>\n

\"Parasitic<\/a>
Parasitic businesses prey on kids<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

3) It is unconscionable that poor children in NYC are being shaken down by vans parked outside schools charging kids to store their phones while in school – in many cases more than the cost of lunch.
\nWhen I enter a theatre or board a plane, I am asked politely to silence my phone. School should be no different, unless there is an educationally sound reason to use the phone.<\/p>\n

\"Cellphone<\/a>
Cellphone storage truck parked in front of an NYC Public School<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dr. Gary Stager is co-author of the book, “Invent To Learn – Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom<\/a>.” He is also a global expert on educational technology and veteran teacher educator.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A couple weeks ago, I received an email from a New York Times reporter asking to interview me about Mayor Bill DiBlasio’s promise to end … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_wp_convertkit_post_meta":{"form":"-1","landing_page":"0","tag":"0","restrict_content":"0"},"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[427,435,428,526,436,438],"tags":[1319,1318,1317,947,1389],"class_list":["post-3370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education-policy","category-featured","category-general","category-leadership","category-news","category-technology","tag-ban","tag-bill-deblasio","tag-cell-phone","tag-digital-citizenship","tag-education-policy"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy the NYC Schools Must End the Student Cellphone Ban - Stager-to-Go<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The latest mania is the 3rd school cellphone ban. 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