Banning cellphones in schools is a red herring—the real issue is the extinction of the public commons

Gov. Kathy Hochul recently passed a statewide bell-to-bell cellphone ban, along with $13.5 million in funding to help schools implement the ban. While it seems straightforward—remove access to the device and students will wake up, reconnect with the world, care to learn and engage in education—I’m sorry to tell you that it’s not that simple. In fact, all this time and effort is distracting us from a larger issue: the extinction of the public commons.

Frustration has been mounting within schools, homes and neighborhoods over youth being constantly distracted by their mobile devices, seemingly becoming zombified as they move throughout their day—head down, earbuds in, eyes fixed on the screens in front of them, disconnected from the world around them. When not zombified, students are reporting an increase in anxiety and struggling to manage social conflicts that can arise online and carry into the school day. The devices have become an extension of their being, but one that is creating barriers to accessing the world around them. As such, the battle has become how to reengage our youth. For many parents, teachers and lawmakers in New York State the solution to this battle seems to be to eliminate cellphones in schools. However, there is no outcome-based empirical research within the United States supporting the claim that school cellphone bans have any significant impacts on student academic or social-emotional development. As a result, school districts, teachers and parents will be spending time and resources policing cellphones, yet students will remain disconnected. Instead of focusing on eliminating cellphones in schools, we should invest in creating spaces—public commons—where students can engage with one another through dialogue, and teachers can facilitate meaningful learning experiences that are enhanced, rather than controlled, by technology.

The public commons refer to spaces where people gather to coalesce and connect. It is without restriction and ownership by individuals. The public commons are what we often think about when we envision free speech, an individual standing on a soap box sharing their perspective and receiving the public’s response. They are accessible spaces that allow people to engage in dialogue, share resources and connect. These spaces are disappearing, and as a result, youth, as well as adults, are losing contact with our communities, our relationships and ourselves.

Contact involves our senses, sight, sound, touch, taste, smell and mind. Mobile devices and the internet restrict if not eliminate our ability to engage all our senses. We may be connected, linked to others through social media, text messages, etc., but it is fragile, exclusionary and dependent on our continued adherence to giving up our personal privacy and freedom.

To be sure, one could argue that advances in technology provide more opportunities to access each other and information, creating a digital public commons where we can share perspectives, witness others and form communities. However, unlike editorial news outlets—which are legally and ethically required to publish facts, cite their sources, and can be sued for misinformation and slander—social platforms are not bound by these same standards. Instead, your digital profile is monetized, politicized and used to train algorithms that further limit your exposure to the world. These platforms exclude information that does not serve the best interests of their corporate owners and hinder meaningful dialogue. Instead, diatribes and debates dominate. It is the antithesis of the public commons.

Now we have a generation of youth whose understanding of connection is devoid of genuine contact, who have spent years curating digital personas while losing touch with their physical selves and the world around them. These digital selves lack autonomy and can be modified or erased at the discretion of corporations. This generation is losing access to public spaces where they can engage with dialogues, particularly those that involve diverse perspectives, with all their senses. We are lonely because we are part of networks devoid of real contact, anxious because we are losing ownership of our selfhood through technology, and polarized because we no longer invest in physical public spaces to engage in meaningful dialogue.

Regardless of your stance on cellphone bans in schools, one thing is clear: It will not be enough. We need to invest resources in creating spaces for youth to engage in dialogue and social interactions that stimulate all our senses. Instead of policing cellphones, we should focus on creating programs to teach students how to be good relatives, friends and neighbors; about digital literacy and the limitations of their digital worlds. Additionally, we must support teachers in developing pedagogies that balance the use of technology to enhance learning, not to mine student data.