Prepared for

Mayor Bill de Blasio

Mayor of New York

Prepared by
Kayla Middleton
Student at Penn State Hazleton

April 21, 2016

Table of Contents
Executive Summary ii
Introduction . 1
Identifying the problem.2
Pros v. Cons...3
Solution.4
Request Action..4
References

Executive Summary
As an employee of the New York Department of Education, I have proposed a change in
laws involving technology use in schools. This report evaluates the current rules in place
along with the strengths and weaknesses of the current system. Based on research, I have
proven that there are more effective rules that should be in place to maximize the learning
experience in schools. My proposal is the reimplementation of the ban of cellphones in
classrooms in the state of New York.

Introduction
In 2015, the decade-long ban on cellphones was lifted by Mayor Bill de Blasio. His
reasoning for this change in rules was that it would help parents better stay in touch with
their children during the day. The chancellor of schools, Carmen Farina claims that this
by lifting the ban, inequality is decreased. According to her, students who go to schools
that have metal detectors had the disadvantage of having to pay outside vendors to store
their phones during the day. Depending on the school, students may be able to use
cellphones at lunch and keep them in their backpacks during class time.
This report will do the following:
Explain the issues with the cellphone ban being lifted
Illustrate why the cellphone ban is more effective

Problem:
Teachers are struggling to maintain the attention of their students making it difficult for
the lesson being taught to be successful. In the past the only distractions were note
passing, talking or looking out of the windows. Now with phones, we have issues of
music, texting, pictures, etc. Students of this day and age have never experience
classrooms without cellphones or excessive use of technology. Scientists say, We think
best and perform best through focused, undistracted attention. People who always have
electronic information streaming do not pay attention, control their memory or switch
tasks as well as those who are not distracted by technology. A classroom is a place for
many things including sharing ideas, learning, contemplating and social interaction. By
allowing cellphones in classrooms, we leave room for the preservation of a proper
classroom setting to be tainted.
There is also an economic component to the cellphone ban. All around public schools,
there are storage facilities that store cell phones throughout the day for students. Usually
the charge is $1 per day. These small business make a lot of money off of this ban and by
lifting the ban, they could go out of business.

(Photo from The New York Times)

Pros v. Cons
Of course, like everything, there are pros and cons for the use cellphones in classrooms.
Here are the pros and cons that are the most important:
Pros

Cons
Students can keep in contact with
family
Good for emergency situations
Can be used for school related
research

Can be a distraction for the student

Can cause a distraction for other
students
Cannot be monitored by the teacher
Can be used to organize school
fights/threats
Can be used to cheat on exams
Difficult to enforce rules involving
cellphones

The cons of this specific situation definitely outweigh the pros. This is especially true
considering that students are in school to learn. If there is a need for technology in
classrooms, schools have access to school owned computers that can regulate the content.
There is no way to ensure that students are only using their cellphones for emergencies or
parental contact. Students get distracted by social media, texting, games, etc. when using
their cellphones.

Solution:
Policies need to take into account the advantages and the disadvantages of cellphone use
in classrooms. My proposal is to re-implement the cellphone ban. It has been that
students retain information better and perform better in school when they have as little
distraction as possible. Cellphones in the classroom open possibilities for endless
distraction. Teacher will have to watch out for cell phones instead of teaching. They will
also have to find ways to ensure that nobody is using a cell phone to cheat. Banning cell
phones is in the best interest of everyone; it will help students grades, separate them
from the negative effects for a few hours, and it helps the school to keep students safe in
an emergency, and even prevent bomb threats. The government and schools have the
power to make all of theses things possible by enforcing the ban on cellphones.
My suggestion to get parents on board with this (since they are the people who are most
opposed to it) is to simply inform them. As a parent, you would want to know that
something is going to benefit your child. I say, simply bring out the information and
make them believe it. Tell them why cellphones are bad for the classroom and disturb a
positive learning environment. To be honest, most parents didnt have cell phones when
they were in high school. Even if they did have cell phones, they definitely werent as
advanced as they are now. There was no social media, games, or maybe even texting.
Information is the most powerful source, use it.
Request Action:
I ask that you take my proposal into serious consideration. I would like to carry on the
conversation of this topic. If you are interested in hearing more of my research, I
encourage you to contact me. I am willing to share with you everything that I have
learned about the distracting ability of cellphones. Feel free to contact me at any time
about this via email kmm6743@psu.edu. Thank you for your consideration. I look
forward to hearing from you soon!

References
Graham, G. (2011, September 21). Cell Phones in Classrooms? No! Students Need to Pay
Attention. Retrieved February 29, 2016
Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Faria to Lift School Cell Phone Ban. (2015). Retrieved
February 29, 2016
Sandoval, E., Eisinger, D., & Blau, R. (2015, March 2). Dept. of Education ends cell
phone ban in NYC schools. Retrieved April 21, 2016
Shelton, J. T., Elliott, E. M., Eaves, S. D., & Exner, A. L. (2009). The distracting effects
of a ringing cell phone: An investigation of the laboratory and the classroom
setting. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 29(4), 513-521.
Weimer, M., PhD. (2014, January 08). The Age of Distraction: Getting Students to Put
Away Their Phones and Focus on Learning. Retrieved February 29, 2016