Distraction-free schools law brings more focus, student engagement to Riverhead classrooms

Gov. Kathy Hochul is touting New York’s new “distraction-free schools” law as an early success, pointing to a statewide survey that found over 90% of responding schools said the transition to bell-to-bell smartphone restrictions went smoothly and reported more positive classrooms, better engagement and improved teaching.

How’s it going in Riverhead?

Cellphone use was already banned in classrooms here, but enforcement of the ban in the high school remained inconsistent, school officials say. Since the bell-to-bell ban was implemented by law in September, administrators and teachers are seeing many of the same benefits extolled by the governor, though some staff and students question whether an all-day, everywhere ban goes too far.

Superintendent: communication eased rollout, parents on ‘all ends of the spectrum‘

Riverhead Superintendent Bob Hagan, who took the helm of the district at the beginning of the current school year, said reactions from families initially ran the gamut.

“There were parents on all ends of the spectrum,” he said in an interview Monday, from those who believed students should not have phones in school at all to those worried about getting in touch with their children during or after school.

Hagan said communication with parents ahead of time – explaining the new law, the district’s procedures and how to reach a child in an emergency – helped smooth the transition and led many families to see the value of distraction-free classrooms.

High school: more engagement in class, constant reminders in hallways

At Riverhead High School, administrators and teachers say the change has been noticeable.

Veteran math teacher Alethia Ford said students are “less distracted by their friends that are not in the classroom” now that phones must stay put away all day. She said she rarely sees earbuds anymore and most students follow the rules without argument.

But some students are having a hard time abiding by the rules, Ford said. They seem seriously attached to their phones and “having a hard time letting it go,” even when reminded that the restriction is now state law.  “And these students are still the ones who are distracted,” she said.

Ford said simply asking a student to put a phone away is usually enough; she has not had to escalate discipline. In a class of about 30, she estimated she might still have issues with one or two students. “It’s a minority,” she said. She sees a clear improvement among students who comply: “If I’m getting more of their attention during the class versus their phone, it’s a plus,” she said.

High school Assistant Principal Jon La Rochester called the change “a culture shock” even for staff who see themselves as tech-forward.

“I would call myself the digital, paperless administrator,” he said. Even so, he said the policy has been “wildly successful” in classrooms. Students are more aware of expectations, and compliance is high. A nonverbal cue – a tap to the ear where an earbud might be, or a glance at a phone in a student’s hand – is often enough to prompt a quick, quiet correction, he said.

The “non-instructional spaces,” such as hallways and the cafeteria, remain the biggest challenge, he said. Even students who accept the rule in class “might push back a little bit because they don’t understand the cafeteria” and other down-time spaces being covered by the same rule, La Rochester said.

Principal Sean O’Hara said classroom observations this fall look different.

“I’m seeing more engaged students,” O’Hara said. “I’m seeing more robust conversations among students. I’m actually seeing the academic discourse that we set out to try to achieve years ago.” He said it is hard to know how much of that can be credited solely to the law, but he believes the distraction-free policy is a factor.

Before the state mandate, Riverhead teachers, in theory, could permit phones in classes only for specific educational tasks such as joining an online quiz if a student lacked a Chromebook. Now, that flexibility is gone.

O’Hara and La Rochester both said they hope state officials will eventually allow schools to designate limited “zones” or times where phones could be used – for example, for students checking in with parents or after-school employers – while keeping classrooms phone-free.

“We’re constantly redirecting” in the hallways, O’Hara said. “The compliance is great,” but staff find themselves repeating the same reminders all day.

Student voices: “helps me stay focused,” but students want freedom during down time

For senior Emily Owadally, the new rule landed after three years of high school when she could use her phone more freely outside of class.

She said the change has helped her “stay focused” in class and “stay socialized with people,” rather than scrolling. When she gets home, she said, she now tends to do her schoolwork instead of immediately picking up her phone.

But she thinks the all-day ban goes too far.

“In the hallways and places where I’m not learning,” like between classes or during lunch in the cafeteria, “I should be allowed to be on my phone,” Owadally said. She described wanting to text a friend about what they missed in class, send a quick message to a parent or “just want a breather on TikTok for like five to 10 minutes.”

On one of the governor’s main arguments – that the law will improve students’ mental health by reducing cyberbullying – Owadally believes adults may be overestimating the role phones play. She said she does not see much bullying happening on phones and thinks it is “more like an in-person thing” – “more of like an adult perspective,” not necessarily how students experience it.

Still, she said, the policy has changed how she interacts at school. Because she cannot retreat into her phone at lunch, “I socialize more and talk to more people,” she said – a change she described as positive.

Middle school: three years into no-phone rule, law reinforces a culture shift

Riverhead Middle School entered this school year ahead of the curve. The building has had a strict no-cellphone policy for three years, long before the state legislation took effect.

English teacher Kerry Jones said the biggest difference since the middle school ban went into effect in the 2023-2024 school year is consistency. Before the school-wide policy, “every teacher kind of had their individualized policy,” she said, which meant students encountered different rules in each classroom and teachers often found themselves “doing battle with the cell phones.”

Principal Kellyann Parlato,  who previously taught at the high school and also worked as an assistant principal there, said when she visits classrooms, she sees students speaking to each other, debating and engaging in discussion rather than looking at screens. She also believes the rule makes students feel safer, because they know classmates cannot secretly pull out a phone to take their picture and post it online.

“There is less social media that is being posted or content within the school hours,” Parlato said. Problems that arise on social media still tend to happen after school, she said, but staff work to ensure they are not being fueled by posts created during the day.

Eighth-grade student leaders John Rodezno, president of the eighth-grade student government, and student ambassador Maria Silva said they rarely see cyberbullying originating in school under the current rules.

Silva said that before the policy, some students would take pictures of classmates in class and then post them or use them to make fun of the student online. With phones now required to stay away, “there’s less people doing that, because obviously, without a phone, you can’t take pictures of people,” she said.

Both students said conflicts among classmates still happen – and often over “really dumb arguments,” as Silva put it – but the fights tend to play out face-to-face rather than through social media.

Phones start early, social media rules vary at home

Rodezno and Silva said many students have their own phones by third or fourth grade, often so parents can reach them when they start going to activities and friends’ houses on their own.

Social media access, they said, depends heavily on family rules. Rodezno, 13, said his parents do not allow him to have social media accounts. Silva said she does have social media with her mother’s knowledge, though her mother “doesn’t really like it.” Some students, she added, download apps behind their parents’ backs regardless of rules.

Teachers and administrators at both schools said that pattern underscores how much the success of the new law depends on what happens at home.

Ford said many in-class disruptions she hears about involve parents calling or texting their children during class – sometimes about serious matters, but other times just to ask what the child wants for dinner. She believes parents “need to take full advantage of the time when their kids are not with them” and remember that if there is a true emergency, they can call the main office and have the student brought down privately.

Parlato said the middle school tries to reassure families by keeping a dedicated student phone in the office that children can use to call home during the day. “Parents feel assured that they can communicate with their students at all times,” she said, without student cellphones in the classroom.

A work in progress

For now, Riverhead’s experience appears to mirror the state survey results Hochul is celebrating: a largely smooth rollout, calmer classrooms and more direct interaction among students and teachers.

But as Hagan, O’Hara and others continue to evaluate the law’s impact, they say they hope state officials will keep listening to districts about how to balance distraction-free learning with teaching digital citizenship – and about whether there is room to carve out limited spaces and times where phones can once again be used as tools instead of temptations.