On Tuesday, Oct. 21, the Chancellor of New York City Public Schools, Melissa Aviles-Ramos, met with student journalists to answer and address specific issues impacting scholastic journalists in New York City schools.
Students were hand-picked by the Chancellor’s office after submitting questions regarding various topics such as the cell phone ban, technology, safety, and programs. The meeting was led by the Chancellor and her press team, consisting of Isla Gething and Nicole Brownstein. Over the course of about an hour, the Chancellor responded to several questions, offering insightful answers.
Senior editor for “The Verdict” Yusuf Rahimi was selected to participate in this meeting, asking, “How does the Chancellor’s office plan to balance the new implementation of the phone ban with the need for journalism students to use their phones for school events, interviews, broadcasting and more?”Although Rahimi was unable to attend the meeting, Mariana Prieto, another senior editor, was able to attend on his behalf.
In response to Rahimi’s concerns, the Chancellor reflected on the process of working closely with schools before implementing the state-wide cell phone ban, specifically speaking with principals, teachers, their unions, and parents, to ensure that they can hear and see some of the challenges that the phone ban would entail.
“We anticipated that this was going to be an adjustment for schools that weren’t already doing it,” she explained. “But when it comes specifically to journalism students, you know, this is something that I will take back to Mark Rampersant, who is our chief of Safety and News Development.”
Chancellor Aviles-Ramos agreed that if there is an opportunity for cell phones productively for an assignment, that her office should take a look at what this would look like and how they can find solutions to partner with schools to execute this effectively.
“We have to make sure that we make adjustments that don’t violate the law,” she added. “We’re happy to accommodate that. I just want to make sure that we’re making adjustments so that way it’s fair to all student journalists, not just some.”
Based on this response, the Chancellor’s office is committed to ensuring that the new state law does not hinder the work of student journalists. In fact, this should be seen as an opportunity to become creative and think of different methods to incorporate cell phones in beneficial ways in the classroom.
After Rahimi’s question was asked, various other students from other schools asked questions that focused on the cell phone ban, as well. One student brought up the process of how to determine if students qualify for exemptions from the ban. The Chancellor explained that her and her team worked to create a list of exemptions for educational purposes, medical purposes, translation services, or individual emergency situations. This list is still under review and not set in stone. She went on to say that she believes student journalism would qualify under educational purposes.
Another high school journalism student asked how the impacts of the cell phone ban would be measured to see if the ban is beneficial to the learning environment. The Chancellor explained that the metrics for success are measured by an online recurrence reporting system that takes into account various things such as bullying, phone related incidents, attendance, and grades.
However, the Chancellor also added, “We recognize that technology is incredibly important and we don’t want you to be behind and that’s why censoring AI work and making sure technology is still available in your school is very important.”
“We also want to make sure you’re using it in a way that’s educationally sound and that you’re using it in a way to advance your studies,” Chancellor Aviles-Ramos reflected.
From this roundtable conversation, it is clear that student journalists may soon qualify for an exemption from the phone ban under educational purposes, but nothing is certain yet. It is important to keep an open mind going forward about the cell phone ban, as it is clear that the Chancellor and her team want what is best for the students of New York City, student journalists included.
