New York Governor Kathy Hochul continued her statewide listening tour on cellphones in schools, listening to teachers concerns at the New York State United Teacher’s “Disconnected” Conference.
This is a continuation of the tour that has already included stops with parents across the state .
Gov. Hochul continued to state her opposition to students’ cellphone use in schools during a question and answer session on Thursday.
“When it comes to our kids on an issue like we’re talking about today, doing nothing is simply not an option. When I took office, I vowed change. I had seen that our mental health system here in the State of New York had languished from neglect. Forgotten. No one talked about it. But yet, New Yorkers were suffering. And you know who was suffering the most? Our kids,” Hochul said.
The governor says that children are being robbed of the ability to develop social skills during childhood that they will need later in life.
“Our job is to raise adults, fully functioning adults who emerge from childhood with the social skills that they develop in school settings. They’re being denied that now, because the cellphone has taken over human interaction. We can stop this now. We can work with the kids who’ve already had to deal with the stress and the anxiety and all those pressures. We can help them.”