Bronx Tech and Career High Schools React to Department of Education Electronics Ban

(BRONX, NY.) —  Students, staff and safety officials at some Bronx high schools are adjusting to New York City Department of Education’s new electronics policy that requires all personal devices to be turned in before each school day. The change was implemented to limit distractions, but has sparked mixed reactions. 

Students, who choose to attend the High School of Computers and Technology, are preparing for a career in the tech industry and said the ban is senseless. 

“I feel the rule isn’t fair because we are a tech school,” Demarcus Sutherland, a 12th grade student, said about the policy that was enforced on Sept. 4. 

Since students no longer have the option to use their personal iPad and laptop in class, according to the DOE’s policy, they now rely on sharing school computers. For some students, this means interruptions in their workflow without the flexibility they once had. For some staff, it causes other concerns.

“Our school is mostly tech based, however there are not that many working laptops to go around. This causes students to rush and it affects the quality of our work,” said Sutherland. 

Located in the Williamsburg area of the Bronx, the high school is located on the fourth floor of the Evander Childs Educational Campus on East Gun Hill Road. Monday through Friday students from each grade are found eating lunch in the newly renovated cafeteria which includes an electronics game room that students no longer have use for. 

Not all school staff agree with the electronics ban. 

Principal David Wills said that he recently received a grant that will solve the lack of updated technological resources this semester. 

“We’re placing orders to ensure every classroom has its own dedicated laptops,” Wills said. 

Guidance counselor Natasha Matos said the ban has caused a rise in social anxiety among students in the school she’s employed with comparison to last year.

“Kid’s feel like they can’t socialize the way they want to and are so addicted to their electronics, it seems like they are going through withdrawals,” said Matos, who has worked at Bronx Academy of Health and Careers for two years.  

The ban has also caused challenges for students applying to colleges.

“It would be easier to complete college applications if the students at least had their personal iPads because the school provided laptops tend to block certain websites,” Matos said.

For Melquan Jones, a school safety officer at High School for Computers and Technology, he said the policy has caused more chaos in the mornings as they are understaffed.

“There needs to be more staff,” Jones said. “It would be better if they had more than two people collecting hundreds of devices.”