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Janae Pierre: Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Tuesday, February 18th. Here's the midday news from Michael Hill.

Michael Hill: Mayor Eric Adams is due back in federal court tomorrow afternoon for what could be a pivotal hearing in his criminal case. The judge overseeing the case ordered Mayor Adams and federal prosecutors to appear in court to discuss the Justice Department's motion to dismiss Mayor Adams' five-count indictment. DOJ says Mayor Adams traded his political influence for bribes and illegal campaign donations. Last week, the Trump administration directed New York prosecutors to drop the case so the mayor can focus on immigration enforcement and violent crime. Several federal prosecutors quit in protest. Mayor Adams has denied any wrongdoing.

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch says the man who shot and wounded an officer in the Lower East Side during a police standoff this morning was out on parole at the time. Police say officers responded to a report of shots fired. Officers at NYCHA's Vladeck Houses got into a standoff with 35-year-old Edwin Rivera, who barricaded himself inside with a possible hostage. Police claim Rivera shot at officers first. Officers returned fire, severely wounding him, and eventually took him into custody. Commissioner Jessica Tisch says it's not the first time Rivera has been arrested while out on his current parole.

Commissioner Jessica Tisch: Why was this individual out of jail and in a position to shoot our officers? How is the system set up to allow one person to commit multiple violent offenses while out on parole with no consequences?

Michael Hill: The NYPD says the officer is expected to survive. 25 and partly sunny now, mostly sunny, and 27 for a high. But the wind up to 36 miles an hour is going to make it feel like it's the single digits. Increasing clouds tomorrow 30 but the wind chill again in the single digits and gusty.

Janae Pierre: Stay close. There's more after the break.

Sean Carlson: On WNYC. I'm Sean Carlson. New York Governor Kathy Hochul and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy both want schools in their respective states to ban cell phones in classrooms. It comes after former President Biden's surgeon general advocated warning labels to alert young people of the danger social media poses to their mental health. Schools across the country, including California, have already begun implementing cell phone bans in their classrooms.

We've convened a roundtable of sorts to talk about all of this. We've got Jayden Stuckey. He's a senior at Central High School in Newark, New Jersey's largest city. We've also got his district superintendent, Roger Leon. We're also joined by Dr. Stephanie Marcello, the chief psychologist at Rutgers University Behavioral Healthcare. Jayden, we're going to start with you. Can you just talk about what your reaction was and the reaction of your fellow students to the proposed cell phone ban in classrooms?

Jayden Stuckey: At first I thought they were lying until I read up on it and he was actually serious about it. To me, it was kind of hard to deal with. Why would I say that? Because I'm from a generation where our phones are like hit or miss to a lot of people, not just me. I'm using it for educational benefits. Some abuse that power.

Sean Carlson: Now, I know that this is a question. I don't want to get you in trouble with your superintendent on this call here, but can you talk about what your relationship with your phone is and how you use it throughout the day?

Jayden Stuckey: I don't use it that much. Only time I would use my cell phone is during switching periods in the hallway to block out the sounds. But if I have an assignment, I mainly use my phone for English or history. I used it for more educational purposes. For me, our whole curriculum is based on a laptop now. All that work gets assigned to the laptop. Personally, I don't like when I have to switch tabs back and forth. I would use my phone.

Sean Carlson: Superintendent Leon, can you talk about what the current policy is in Newark schools and how it's enforced?

Roger Leon: The policy is that it gets shut off when they actually enter the schoolhouse doors. As Jayden articulated, there are opportunities where cell phones are, in fact, used for an academic programming at a particular class in a particular school. While the policy clearly says that they are to be turned off, that there is some amount of discretion with regards to when a student actually does, in fact, get to use their phone.

Sean Carlson: Superintendent, do you see any challenges with implementing the governor's more stringent ban?

Roger Leon: No, I think that the policy as it's written right now would make our adjustment quite natural, as opposed to any of our neighboring districts throughout the state that may not actually have a policy in play right now.

Sean Carlson: Dr. Marcello, what does the research say about how screen time affects kids, teens, young people?

Stephanie Marcello: There's a lot of data and research that shows that social media use and the number of times that a youth or a teen or even an adult check their phones is pretty significant. There's rates that show people are checking their phones up to 500 times per day. We do see a lot of more negative outcomes when there's not that education around how to use phones in terms of depression, anxiety, and even suicide and substance use.

There isn't really a one-size-fits-all approach. Let me tell you, the cell phone can be such a protective factor in helping students who are dealing with anxiety or depression if their algorithms are supporting them having more positive TikToks come up. Really what I support is policymakers focusing on initiatives that can help really integrate learning tools in the classroom with the smartphones, coupled with some of the education and responsible use, and that if we do that, we could probably reverse some of the negative impacts of cell phone use.

Sean Carlson: Jayden, how do you think a ban would end up affecting you and your peers both good and bad?

Jayden Stuckey: For good, we would have more time to study, be prepared for class, or interact with class. The bad. I'm not scared, but I would love to see how long it would take for my fellow peers to get used to it. Like I said, there's some people of my peers who use it for good and some, I believe, truly do abuse that power. For me, I already see it in school when sometimes we have to give up our phone. I see what it does for the overall environment of the school. When one person acts out in this type of way, it kind of shifts the whole mood.

Sean Carlson: Dr. Marcello, what do you think people can do at-home parents to practice better screen time habits with their kids?

Stephanie Marcello: I think it's really hard for parents because teens and students are more advanced, oftentimes technology-wise than their parents, so parents don't really know what to do. I think that any kind of education that we can do to teach our kids, like how to use cell phones responsibly and how we can use them in a way to protect them against kind of negative mental health consequences. We know that connection is protection. Teens use their phones and they use social media to connect with each other. Cell phones aren't going anywhere. Technology's not leaving.

Sean Carlson: Superintendent, one of the criticisms or concerns we should say that some parents had about a stricter cell phone policy was that they couldn't reach their kids during the day. Say there was an emergency and you needed to get in touch with your kid and you just call their phone. If they can't do that they say that's a problem. What do you say to that concern?

Roger Leon: That absolutely makes lots of sense. When there isn't a rule that's in place or when something is instituted like this new bill, it does create a level of confusion. It is on us to just clarify and remind parents of what do you now do if in fact you were trying to reach your child. All of our schools actually have working phones. Every school has a main office. Whenever there's an issue where a parent really wants to get in contact with their child during the school day, they could definitely reach out to the respective school as well as as parents build relationships with the teachers that are interested in educating their child, that there are obvious communications that they make between the classroom teacher and themselves with regards to their child.

Sean Carlson: Jayden, your generation grew up with phones, right? Like that's how you keep in contact with your friends. That's how you do any number of things that you do go just going day every day. If you were to talk to the people who make these policies and are making these laws and pushing these things forward, what would you want them to know about your generation's relationship with your phone?

Jayden Stuckey: Even though technology or phone did some damage to us as a society, as for learning things like that, but also I would say the power of a device have done significant improvement. Like how TikTok just shut down, then it started back up. I feel as though TikTok has gave many people a voice who didn't have a voice. It allowed people to speak up when times was hard. I truly think that we can solve more problems instead of banning cell phones in schools.

I think it's a bigger picture that we have to think about. I agree with the governor saying our mental state of mind is at attack. I grew up in Newark. Certain things I inherited from past generations. Mental health was one of them to me growing up in a city like Newark where see violence every day. Instead of ban, I think the state should offer more support to the youth of mental health. I think in my community the hardest thing is seeking help and that's the most deepening concern.

Sean Carlson: Well, that was Jayden Stuckey, a senior at Central High School in Newark, Newark Superintendent Roger Leon, and Dr. Stephanie Marcello, the chief psychologist at Rutgers University Behavioral Healthcare. Thanks so much to all of you for joining us. This was really insightful.

Roger Leon: Thank you.

Jayden Stuckey: Thank you.

Stephanie Marcello: Thank you.

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Janae Pierre: Thanks for listening. This is NYC Now from WNYC. Be sure to catch us every weekday, three times a day for your top news headlines and occasional deep dives. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. See you this evening.

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