Proponents argue that the bans are essential to promoting academic achievement and overall well-being among students. Cell phone ownership has more than doubled among school-aged youth in the past decade. At the same time, rates of anxiety, depression, sleep problems, and cyberbullying have skyrocketed. And 72 percent of high school teachers say phone distractions are a major problem in their classrooms, according to Pew Research Center polling from June 2024.
Being associated with a student who boldly declared that "Jews must be abolished by any means" definitely wasn't a good look for University of Florida. My position on Jews is simple: whatever Harvard professor Noel Ignatiev meant by his call to "abolish the White race by any means necessary" is what I think must be done with Jews. Jews must be abolished by any means necessary.- Preston Damsky (@preston_terry_) March 21, 2025
Nearly all of the 58 students placed on probation - the highest number since at least the 2017-2018 academic year - were disciplined for participating in a November 2023 pro-Palestine occupation of University Hall and an April to May 2024 pro-Palestine encampment at Harvard Yard, according to the Crimson. An additional 31 students were "formally admonished" but not placed on probation.