Two new bills are aimed at stopping children from being able to use their phones during school hours. Parents are conflicted. (Courtesy of SDI Productions via Getty Images)
Within weeks of implementing new restrictions on cellphone use at two Jersey City schools, Superintendent Norma Fernandez noticed the atmosphere within the schools had shifted.
Students weren’t just paying more attention in class — they started spending more time together and acting more like kids, according to Fernandez.
“School’s not just for academic learning. It’s about developing social skills,” she said. “It’s the impact of disconnecting, and it really helps. They have to play. They have to be silly together. They have to talk to each other.”
The district is piloting two methods of keeping phones away from students during the school day. At President Barack Obama Community School, a pre-K-through-eighth-grade school, students put their phones away in lockable magnetic bags called Yondr pouches. And at Academy 1 Middle School, students exchange their phones for laptops, then swap them back at the end of the day.
The programs are going so well, Fernandez said, she wants to expand them districtwide. And she hopes the state is paying attention to this issue, saying it’s a “health and wellness concern for young people.”
Two bills introduced last month by Assemblyman Herb Conaway Jr. (D-Burlington) would address some of her concerns. One measure would require the state education commissioner to establish a policy for kindergarten through 12th grade on the use of cellphones and social media during school hours, on a school bus, or during school-sanctioned events.
That bill lays out that students must be allowed to use their phones in case of emergency, or if the phone is necessary for the health or well-being of the student. Under the bill, each board of education would also adopt a policy for the time when students aren’t in class but are under the direct supervision of school members.
Virtually every district has some form of policy not to use cellphones during the day, said Steve Baker, spokesman for the New Jersey Education Association, the statewide teachers union. But at least dozens of districts have begun enforcing their own stricter no-phone rules. In an August letter, the state Department of Education advised schools to weigh the drawbacks and benefits of limiting phone use while engaging parents and school community members to explain the process and assuage concerns.
The guidance cites research from Rutgers University showing the negative impact excessive cellphone use leads to, like increased anxiety and depression and worse performance on exams.
Baker said the union hasn’t taken a stance on Conaway’s bills but generally would prefer guidance over a blanket policy from the state. It’s a complex issue that schools with different grade levels must navigate while considering the best interest of their students, he said.
“I think there’s a place at the local level to have good and thoughtful policies,” he said. “The driving question for everyone has to be, what’s in the best interest of our students, of their learning, of their health and safety? If we keep those questions center, we’re going to be in a better position to serve our students.”
The push to restrict students’ use of cellphones in class is gaining steam nationwide. Last month, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill that requires every school district in the state to adopt a policy limiting or banning the use of phones by July 2026. Policymakers in states like Virginia and Ohio have made similar moves, and New York City is considering its own ban.
Parents and school officials who spoke with the New Jersey Monitor said they are supportive of bans on cellphones in class, though Fernandez said there was some pushback when the district started its cellphone ban. School shootings are the chief concern, she said, with parents wanting to get in touch with their children in case of danger.
But quickly after the policy was put in place, Fernandez said, parents saw the benefits of keeping phones out of kids’ hands during the school day.
Maria Christian, mom to a 15-year-old Elizabeth High School student, said she’d want to see a stricter policy in her district than keeping phones away and turned off. She suggested students turning their phones in to teachers at the start of a period and keeping them close so they’re accessible in case of emergency.
“They’re texting somebody else when they’re supposed to be paying attention in school. It’s keeping them distracted,” she said. “If there is an emergency, the teacher will give it to them.”
Woodbridge mom Heather Kooy feels differently. In her son’s middle school, students are told to keep their phones in their lockers for the school day. There have been a few times she’s wanted to contact her son for something as simple as checking whether he’s taking the bus or needs to be picked up, she said.
On those days, she could call the school and have him tracked down, but sometimes it’s easier to send a quick text, she added.
She noted there was one instance of a parent posting a picture to a local Facebook group of police near her son’s school, instilling fear in parents until they heard from school officials.
“It’s one of those days where nobody knows what’s going on and it had to be 20 minutes or a half hour before we got a message from the school. I felt like if I could’ve just texted him to see what was actually going on that day and that everything was OK, I would’ve felt a little bit better,” she said.
Conaway’s other new bill would create a one-year pilot program in six districts to implement a policy requiring students in grades six through 12 to put their phones in lockable pouches during the school day. The bill would appropriate $500,000 to the Department of Education to enact the policy.
Fernandez said $500,000 is a “drop in the bucket” for large school districts. Yondr pouches can cost between $15 and $30 for schools, according to a Time report, which can run schools thousands of dollars. At $25 for 2,000 students in Jersey City’s largest high school, that’s $50,000 for one school, Fernandez noted.
“You can have them leave it in their lockers, and that’s more reasonable, but you spend all day policing,” she said.
Christina Cunha-Moreira, a mom who launched a local nonprofit for Elizabeth parents, said she loves the Yondr pouches provided at her son’s private school. When her son previously attended Elizabeth public schools, there was little enforcement over the district’s no-phones rule, allowing him to be distracted during class.
She understands reservations about wanting contact with your children in the case of a dangerous situation unfolding at school. But the benefits outweigh the negatives, she said, and parents can always call the school like they did before the advent of cellphones.
“Cellphones are good for one thing, but they’ve proven they’re bad for kids in general — their mental health, their ability to concentrate,” she said.
Both of Conaway’s bills have yet to face a hearing in the Assembly Education Committee.
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