Connor Williamson*

When New York State banned phones in public schools from bell to bell this past September, the goal was undistracted learning. But within weeks of the Great Phone Lockup, teachers began to notice an incidental (and arguably even more compelling) benefit: The teens were talking to one another as if they were in a Brat Pack movie. Sure, there’s been grumbling and some burner phones and scrolling in the bathroom. But generally, with phones off-limits, the atmosphere feels different. There’s a pleasant buzz in the lunchroom, chatter in the hallways, and an alphabet of new analog hobbies popping up just about everywhere. “We’ve had a lot more school spirit,” said one senior at a charter school in Harlem. “People are more willing to do stuff.” What stuff are they doing? At many schools, teachers have made cards, board games, and sports equipment available during free time, and the kids have deigned to use them. Aidan Amin, a ninth-grader at Hunter College High School, is in a friend group that congregates in the school foyer to stack ‘OK Play’ tiles and compete at ‘Sorry!’ and other tabletop games during lunch. “I’d say it’s made us closer. Honestly, half the people I’m playing board games with I didn’t know at all before this,” Aidan says. Read more about how the state’s device ban has shifted the atmosphere in New York public schools: nymag.visitlink.me/R2A4ds