NEW YORK — New York City once led the nation in curtailing the use of electronic devices in classrooms. Two decades later, the country’s largest school system is having trouble catching up.
What appeared over the summer as a simple pledge to prohibit the use of cellphones in classrooms has, for New York Mayor Eric Adams, become mired in both logistical complications and concerns from wary parents and a powerful teachers union — all as the moderate Democrat faces reelection in 2025.
As a result, Adams last month walked back his administration’s earlier comments with the aim of giving city officials more time to hash out the particulars.
States and school districts across the country — like California and Ohio — are enacting smartphone restrictions as elected officials and education leaders worry about lagging test scores and social media’s effect on young brains. Yet even with broad, bipartisan support, policymakers have struggled to strike the right balance.
And incidents like this week’s Georgia high school shooting, which left two teachers and two students dead, keep rekindling the debate over student safety.