NYC phone ban reveals some students can't read clocks

Some New York City teachers say it’s high time for a refresher on old-fashioned clocks. Getty Images Tiana Millen, an assistant principal at Cardozo High School in Queens, said this year’s ban on smartphones revealed that many teens struggle to read traditional clocks. “That's a major skill that they're not used to at all,” she said. Overall, Millen said, the phone ban has been a major success at the school , and has helped kids focus in class and socialize at lunch. Foot traffic is moving more swiftly in hallways. Without eyes glued to their phones, more students are getting to class on time. The problem is they don’t know it, she said, “because they don't know how to read the clocks.” For years, parents and teachers have blamed technology for a range of lapsed skills - from legible handwriting to sustained attention to reading whole books - even as their proficiency with technology far outstrips their elders. Still, while educators have widely praised New York’s statewide smartphone ban that went into effect this fall, multiple teachers told Gothamist it has also laid bare an unexpected gap: How to tell time. “The constant refrain is ‘Miss, what time is it?’ said Madi Mornhinweg, who teaches high school English in Manhattan. “It’s a source of frustration because everyone wants to know how many minutes are left in class. ... It finally got to the point where we I started saying ‘Where’s the big hand and where’s the little hand?’” According to the education department, students learn how to read clocks in first and second grade. "At NYCPS, we recognize how essential it is for our students to tell the time on both analog and digital clocks,” education department spokesperson Isla Gething said. “As our young people are growing up in an increasingly digital world, no traditional time-reading skills should be left behind.” Officials said kids are taught to master terms including “o’clock,” “half-past” and “quarter-to” in early elementary years. After dismissal outside Midwood High School in Brooklyn, many students said they do know how to read wall clocks - but they have classmates who can’t. “They just forgot that skill because they never used it, because they always pulled out their phone,” said Cheyenne Francis, 14. “I know how to read a clock,” she added. ”The only time I guess I would struggle is if the time is wrong on the clock. Because sometimes they don’t set the proper time.” Several students said clocks in their school are often broken. Farzona Yakuba, 15, said she can tell time the old-fashioned way, but she empathizes with classmates who struggle. “I feel like I'm one of those students sometimes because I know how to read the clock if I really need to. But I feel like most students here, they just get lazy and they ask. And I feel like I do that a lot,” she said. Concern about students’ analog clock literacy predates the phone ban. In 2017, an Oklahoma study found...

Preview: ~500 words