Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday condemned Saturday's assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, but tied political violence to one of her top legislative priorities next year: Cracking down on the use of smartphones in schools.
The governor Monday led the first of several roundtables to be held with educators across the state to shape a proposal to limit the use of smartphones in schools on the heels of signing new social media rules for minors into law.
"We are here for one reason — to protect our children," Hochul said to a room of Capital Region educators, local elected officials and parents at Guilderland High School in Albany County.
FBI investigators continue to probe the motive that led 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks to open fire on Trump's stage rally on Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania that left one dead. Hochul said it highlights the deepening issue of radicalized youth in America — and something must be done.
About 95% of 13- to 17-year-olds in the U.S. have access to smartphones, according to a recent Pew Research Center study.
Hochul says the use of smartphones and devices must be curbed in school to improve youth education and mental health.
"How do they have all this access? It's the cell phone use," the governor said to open the discussion.
The kickoff of the statewide listening tour featured superintendents from the Guilderland, Albany City, Shenendehowa and Schoharie school districts and state Assemblymembers John McDonald and Pat Fahy.
The governor tied the rise of teen mental health issues to Saturday's political violence and the racially motivated shooting that left 10 Black people dead in a Buffalo supermarket in 2022.
The political violence has sparked questions about inflammatory rhetoric from candidates on both sides of the aisle.
"We should aspire to be a people of words, not bullets," Hochul said. "Such violent acts actually make us weaker."
Of Saturday's shooting, Hochul added: "I felt a pit in my stomach of disgust."
Hochul directed the New York State Intelligence Center to monitor social media and other communication channels for threats of violence or retaliation. The Counter Intelligence Unit within the state police is in contact with local law enforcement to check other suspicious activity.
The governor said people of all political affiliations must be safe to peacefully express their views, but Hochul defended her rhetoric, saying she has called for peaceful action when necessary, but never violence.
"None of them [my remarks] said, 'Go after a candidate,' — none of them said, 'Go after a president or after our former president,'" Hochul argued. "So there is a vast difference between espousing my deeply held views about what I see could happen for the future of our country and the concern I still hold today about where we're heading as a nation. And saying 'Take to the streets and march'? That's what you should be doing!"
Participants in Monday's roundtable said school and elected officials have a consensus to limit students' ability to use smartphones or other devices in classrooms to limit distractions.
The Schoharie Central School District adopted a policy two years ago banning students from having cell phones, smart watches and ear buds.
Schoharie Superintendent David Blanchard said the rule has forced students to interact and form healthier strategies to resolve conflict.
"I think common sense would prevail that the best way to resolve a conflict is to have a discussion with somebody that you're in conflict with," Blanchard said. "So, by having smartphones banned from schools it allows kids to work through their problems, talk through their problems, and we've seen a very positive result of kids being able to talk with each other."