Attention is being paid to New York State’s plan to ban the use of smartphones in schools. New York Governor Cathy Hokull announced on the 30th, “For the mental health of young people, we plan to submit a bill banning the use of smartphones in public schools by the end of this year and enact it within the next year.”
According to Governor Hokul, the ban on smartphone use in schools applies to all public-school students in grades K through 12, and only ‘flip phones’ that can only send text messages and make phone calls will be allowed instead of smartphones with Internet access. However, more specific detailed plans such as ‘will it be allowed to carry smartphones on campus but only prohibit their use’, ‘will the use of smartphones for security purposes be prohibited’, and ‘how should homework be done using existing smartphones’ have not been disclosed. It is not happening.
However, some say that Governor Hokul’s plan is to ban smartphones from being carried on campus. It has been confirmed that New York City, which has independent educational control rights from New York State, is also pursuing this policy of banning the use of smartphones in schools.
New York City Superintendent of Education David Banks said, “We welcome the governor’s decision to prioritize the mental health of youth and promote a policy to ban smartphone use in public schools,” adding, “Smartphone use in schools is a problem directly related to youth mental health issues.”
New York City lifted the ban on smartphone use in public schools in 2015, nine years ago. Meanwhile, it is believed that Governor Hokul’s pushes to ban the use of smartphones in schools is in line with the SAFE for Kids Act (S3281/A4967), which is in progress with the goal of being passed by the 6th, the scheduled end date of this session.
The bill to combat youth Internet addiction prohibits SNS online platform companies such as YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok from collecting and sharing personal information of minors under the age of 18 without prior consent (prior parental consent is required for those under 13), access records, etc.
The main point is that addictive content (feed) and customized advertisements automatically generated by algorithms cannot be provided based on this.
Minors under the age of 18 must obtain parental permission to access algorithm-recommended content. It also included that online platform companies should provide programs such as allowing parents to control their children’s SNS usage time and blocking SNS access from midnight to 6 a.m. (so-called digital curfew).