When New York governor Kathy Hochul started dropping hints a few months ago that she might ban phones in schools across the state, reporter Kevin T. Dugan got interested in what that might actually mean. Phones, after all, are built into the fabric of day-to-day life now, but their negative effects on how kids socialize, learn, and view the world are too big and too dramatic to ignore or blindly accept. But is a simple ban at school too one-size-fits-all or heavy-handed? In addition to interviewing Hochul, Kevin visited schools in New York that have already banned electronic devices on campus, implementing policies that are probably good previews of what might eventually pass in the state as a whole. The kids and teachers he talked to — many of whom were skeptical of the policy at first — seem to be convinced that a full ban is the right way to go. The story one teacher tells of hearing the hallways at his school come back to life after the phones went away is a powerful example of the kind of outcome Hochul is hoping to see in the months and years ahead.

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