Why New York State Banned Smartphones

The smartphone ban across the state of New York, the which came into effect this fall, has been largely successful in getting students to focus in class and socialize at lunch. But educators across the city have discovered an unexpected side effect: many teenagers can't read analog clocks.

“The constant refrain is, ‘Miss, what time is it?’” said Madi Mornhinweg, a high school English teacher in Manhattan, who kept asking questions, asking students to identify the uppercase and lowercase letters.

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Tiana Millen, assistant principal at Cardozo High School in Queens, said the ban has helped pedestrians move through the hallways faster and more students arrive at class on time — they just don't know it because they can't read the wall clocks.

“It’s an important skill that they’re not used to at all,” Millen said.

The city's education department says students learn to read clocks in first and second grade.

“At NYCPS, we recognize how important it is for our students to be able to tell time on both analog and digital clocks,” said Department of Education spokeswoman Isla Gething. “As our young people grow up in an increasingly digital world, no traditional time-telling skill should be neglected.”

A 2017 study in Oklahoma found that only one in five children ages 6-12 could read analog clocks, and they began replacing analog classroom clocks with digital ones in 2018.

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