Q&A
NYC public school policies on student social media and cell phone use
1:34:35
·
3 min
Council Member Rita Joseph inquires about New York City public school policies on students' use of social media and cell phones during class time. Officials discuss current policies and challenges:
- There is a policy prohibiting cell phone use during instructional time
- Schools have a responsible digital citizenship curriculum that covers appropriate online behavior and social media use
- Many schools have implemented policies to collect cell phones from students at the door
- Officials highlight the challenge of balancing safety concerns with parents' desire for their children to have phones for emergencies
- The addictive nature of social media and its impact on student behavior is discussed
- Officials note the difficulty in monitoring personal phone usage and staying ahead of evolving technology like smartwatches and AR glasses
Rita Joseph
1:34:35
Okay.
1:34:36
Thank you.
1:34:38
Earlier I asked this question, and the number one answer was social media.
1:34:40
So what is New York City policy, New York City public school policy on students' use of social media, cell phones during class time, And that's and how does that policy address or prevent the viewing or sharing of harmful content such as subway surfing?
Kevin Dantzler
1:34:54
Sure.
1:34:55
Well, we do have policies.
1:34:56
There is no cell phone use during instructional time.
1:34:59
That's a New York City public school policy.
1:35:01
With respect to social media overall, we have responsible digital citizenship.
1:35:06
And that's given every school year and is an actual curricula that's part of that.
1:35:11
That includes appropriate online behavior, responsible use of social networking sites, as well as cyberbullying and other things.
1:35:18
So we do take steps to make sure we educate our young people about the appropriate use of social media.
1:35:24
I will also mention that on our X platform, formerly formerly known as Twitter, we have anti subway surfing messaging on that, as well as on Instagram.
Rita Joseph
1:35:34
Is it embedded in any of the, let's say, the New York City public school devices that you give out to students?
Mark Rampersant
1:35:41
It is not.
1:35:42
And that's a great, that's a great idea for
Rita Joseph
1:35:44
the child to get back.
1:35:44
I hope you take notes.
1:35:45
I'm dropping gems for you to take notes.
Mark Rampersant
1:35:48
Yeah.
1:35:49
Okay.
Rita Joseph
1:35:50
And and the citizen and the digital citizen's, curricula, I'm familiar with it.
1:35:55
When was the last time was it updated?
Mark Rampersant
1:35:59
We'll we'll get back to you on that.
1:36:00
We'll check we'll find out from our IT folks.
Rita Joseph
1:36:02
Mhmm.
1:36:03
Mhmm.
Mark Rampersant
1:36:04
Pre installed on all New York City devices.
Rita Joseph
1:36:07
Yep.
1:36:08
Right?
1:36:08
And That's how we did it.
Mark Rampersant
1:36:09
Update.
1:36:10
Yep.
1:36:11
That makes that makes that makes sense.
Rita Joseph
1:36:13
How does
UNKNOWN
1:36:13
the social
Rita Joseph
1:36:14
mhmm.
1:36:14
Go ahead.
Mark Rampersant
1:36:15
The other the other the other part of your question that I wanna be frank about is a teacher, an educator of any kind wouldn't have access to a young person's, personal phone in the sites that they're visiting.
UNKNOWN
1:36:28
Mhmm.
Mark Rampersant
1:36:28
It is only when someone sees something and says something that we become aware of what sites young people are on, what sites they're frequenting.
1:36:36
Just this weekend, there's a there's an unfortunate, fortunate incident that occurred on a New York City train where 2 gentlemen found a young person attempting to climb on the top of the train, which was full of passengers.
1:36:52
And these people, these these these gentlemen, they saw something, and they did something.
UNKNOWN
1:36:57
Mhmm.
Mark Rampersant
1:36:57
They did.
1:36:58
They brought him out, and they roughed him up.
1:37:01
And I don't mean physically roughed him up.
1:37:02
They verbally roughed him up.
1:37:04
And it was interesting to hear his response to them when they asked why you were doing what you were doing.
1:37:10
He said, I was just trying to have fun.
1:37:13
I was just trying to have fun.
1:37:14
And the gentleman asked, what is fun about risking your life, and why do you think you get to do that and all of these people get to suffer if in fact you fall from this train?
1:37:25
And this young person looked at them, and he just said, well, I didn't know it was that serious.
1:37:30
It's not that serious for me.
1:37:32
And then another gentleman stepped up and said, yes.
1:37:34
It is serious.
1:37:36
I had someone who lost their life doing something reckless.
1:37:39
They are not here anymore.
UNKNOWN
1:37:41
Mhmm.
Mark Rampersant
1:37:41
What you don't understand is once it's done, it's done.
1:37:45
And a lot of what we are talking about here today is around educating young people and the enforcement of the NYPD and the engineering of the MTA, but we don't recognize that we have millions of riders who have a collective responsibility to do exactly what those gentlemen did today.
1:38:06
You don't sit there and watch young people risk their lives.
1:38:09
You step up and you do something about it.
1:38:12
And even if that something is as simple as picking up the phone and calling to say or knocking on the conductor's door to say this is what I just witnessed, do something.
1:38:22
Do something because young people bank on the fact that we're not gonna do anything.
