NY school phone ban has made lunch loud again

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Perceived harms of smartphones & social media

  • Many see phones, especially social media, as broadly harmful: addictive, attention-sapping, worsening teen depression and suicide, and displacing play-based childhood. Smartphones are repeatedly compared to cigarettes.
  • Feeds are characterized as “casino psychology” designed for engagement, not well‑being; social media is seen as structurally incapable of aligning with kids’ interests.

Support for school phone bans

  • Strong support for “bell-to-bell” bans: phones are viewed as unnecessary during the school day and deeply undermining classroom attention.
  • Multiple commenters report that after bans (NY, CA, Australia, parts of Europe, Texas), lunchrooms became noisy again and face‑to‑face interaction increased.
  • Some describe bans as “letting kids be kids again” and an overdue correction after COVID-era, device-led education.

Concerns, edge cases & enforcement

  • Biggest resistance is said to come from parents who demand constant contact and justify phones as safety tools, though others argue a child with a phone can’t fix emergencies the school can’t.
  • Enforcement is hard: examples of policies where phones must be turned in but teachers can’t remove noncompliant students; detentions often ignored. Burner/second phones are reportedly emerging.
  • Some worry about authoritarian overreach, lack of trust, and strike-based punishment systems.

Impact on learning, AI & classroom tech

  • Students report previously using phones/AI during class to answer questions; bans now force actual searching and reading.
  • Teachers say allowing phones in pockets set them up to fail; policing dozens of addicted adolescents is unrealistic.
  • Broader critique that shifting from teacher‑led to device‑led instruction (accelerated by COVID) weakened teacher authority and increased off‑task behavior; several argue most K‑12 instruction should be largely screen‑free.

Social development & lunchroom dynamics

  • Many respondents recall loud cafeterias as where they learned key social skills; a silent lunchroom feels “unnatural” and worrying.
  • Others counter that cafeterias can also be centers of exclusion and bullying; phones sometimes served as a refuge.
  • Neurodivergent and noise‑averse students describe loud spaces as painful; several suggest schools provide both quiet (library, outside corners) and loud social areas.

Responsibility, regulation & politics

  • Debate over whether tech companies merely give people what they want versus knowingly promoting harmful behavior.
  • Tension between calls for regulation (banning kids from social media, taxing engagement‑optimized platforms) and arguments about parental responsibility and liberal freedoms for teens.
  • Side debates touch on U.S. First Amendment filming rights in public schools and broader distrust of both big tech and “big government” solutions.