Last year, Poughkeepsie City School District implemented an ‘away for the day’ policy at the middle and high school.

Molly Belmont, NYSUT

Last year, Poughkeepsie City School District implemented an ‘away for the day’ policy at the middle and high school. "It has been absolutely wonderful to see kids talking and having conversations again, not engrossed with their phones,” said Kimberly Popken, president of the Poughkeepsie Public School Teachers Association.

During the NYSUT webinar, Popken shared her experiences, alongside Ari Sillam, Smithtown TA and Brian VanArsdale, Hoosick Falls TA. They each talked about how their individual policy worked - including device collection, storage, and enforcement – and how the district had communicated the policy to parents, students and staff.

During the webinar, Sillam noted that while there was some pushback from parents, most were in relative agreement around the issue of cellphones ─ they just needed a nudge in the right direction. “I think this was something that parents also needed help with,” Sillam said. “I think sometimes they need us to be the bad guy, to implement some rules and policies that are harder for them to get ahold of.”

Read the full article here.

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Take the "Away For The Day" pledge and show that you support school policies that require students to put their cell phones away in lockers, backpacks, or other places all day.

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