Smartphones Are Finally Getting Expelled

Photo-Illustration: Intelligencer; Photo: Getty Images

Starting at the beginning of the 2025–26 school year, New York public and charter schools will be implementing plans for “bell-to-bell” smartphone bans, which prohibit the “unsanctioned use of smartphones and other internet-enabled personal devices on school grounds in K-12 schools for the entire school day.” If you’re a New York student and the plan’s various small exceptions don’t apply to you, your phone will be going in the bag (or the box, or the cubby, or the office).