Shaping the Future

Governor Kathy Hochul and Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton today announced the launch of the New York School (NYS) x #HalfTheStory Teen Tech Council, a groundbreaking statewide initiative placing teens at the forefront of educational innovation. This new advisory group will empower students to lead the conversation on digital wellness and support phone-free learning environments across New York State as schools across the state prepare to implement Governor Hochul’s nation-leading distraction-free learning law for the 2025-2026 school year

“Launching the Teen Tech Council will help make sure New York’s Distraction-Free Schools is successfully implemented,” Governor Hochul said. “I’m fired up to be working with #HalfTheStory, the Clinton Foundation, and all of you with you to usher in a generational shift — bringing back meaningful interactions during such formative years and securing a healthier future.”

Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton said, “Here at the Clinton Foundation, we’re guided by our belief that putting people first — putting people's concerns, needs and hopes first — is essential to creating a better world. That starts with you. As the largest state to adopt a phone-free policy in schools, New York has the opportunity to show the rest of the country what we can accomplish when we combine the capacity of government and nonprofits with the energy of smart young leaders.

#HalfTheStory Founder and Executive Director Larissa May said, “Teens are often left out of the conversation when it comes to the policies that shape their lives, and in this case, teens are the missing piece of the bell-to-bell movement. #HalfTheStory is committed to identifying the next generation of digital activists and powering the movement from the bottom up. We're training these future leaders at scale to make NYC the model for the world—in and outside the classroom—to support student wellbeing and digital citizenship. Teen work makes the dream work.”

The inaugural Teen Tech Council Board Meeting was held on July 22, 2025, in New York City. Co-hosted by the Governor’s Office and the Clinton Foundation in partnership with #HalfTheStory — a nonprofit committed to strengthening young people’s relationship with technology — the event marks a pivotal step in reimagining how students engage with tech in and out of the classroom.

As an extension of #HalfTheStory’s Civics Academy, an annual summer program for teens that aims to educate and empower today's youth to learn effective activism, storytelling, and leadership techniques essential for driving global and local change, the Teen Tech Council is launching as a scaled state initiative, with teens from across New York joining from their districts. Students will be nominated by teachers and peers to help schools successfully implement bell-to-bell policies and create a shared culture of digital wellness — one that extends beyond the classroom into play, connection, and creativity.

Teens can apply now to join NYS x #HalfTheStory Teen Tech Council — or teachers can nominate a star student to help shape the future at: halfthestoryproject.com/teen-tech-council.

The launch of the council underscores Governor Hochul’s continued commitment to working with young people to ensure an equitable and successful rollout of a distraction-free environment in schools statewide. The Distraction-Free Schools law signed by Governor Hochul requires bell-to-bell smartphone restrictions in K-12 school districts statewide, starting this fall for the 2025-2026 school year. This law is part of Governor Hochul’s nation-leading commitment to protecting youth mental health and promoting student success in the digital age, following her action last year to win a first-in-the-nation law to restrict addictive social media feeds for minors.

In accordance with the Distraction Free Learning Law, public school districts statewide must finalize and publish their distraction-free policy by August 1. The Governor also recently launched a website with a policy FAQ, toolkit and other key information about the State law as a resource for districts as they finalize their policy. The Governor also recently highlighted that nearly 150 school districts across New York have already submitted their distraction-free policy.

Governor Hochul’s bell-to-bell policy creates a statewide standard for distraction-free schools in New York including:

• Prohibits unsanctioned use of smartphones and other internet-enabled personal devices on school grounds in K-12 schools for the entire school day (from “bell to bell”), including classroom time and other settings like lunch and study hall periods
• Allows schools to develop their own plans for storing smartphones during the day — giving administrators and teachers the flexibility to do what works best for their buildings and students
• Secures $13.5 million in funding to be made available for schools that need assistance in purchasing storage solutions to help them go distraction-free
• Requires schools to give parents a way to contact their kids during the day when necessary
• Requires teachers, parents and students to be consulted in developing the local policy
• Prevents inequitable discipline

Governor Hochul’s policy allows authorized access to simple cellphones without internet capability, as well as internet-enabled devices officially provided by their school for classroom instruction, such as laptops or tablets used as part of lesson plans.

Additionally, the Governor’s policy includes several exemptions to smartphone restrictions, including for students who require access to an internet-enabled device to manage a medical condition, where required by a student's Individualized Education Program (IEP), for academic purposes or for other legitimate purposes, such as translation, family caregiving and emergencies.