ROCHESTER, N.Y. — With the school year kicking off, Gov. Kathy Hochul is again pushing for a cell phone ban in New York schools.

Here in Rochester, students, teachers, and parents seem split on the issue, especially following the Georgia school shooting.

“When you have a cell phone, you’re distracted. You’re worried about all the wrong things,” said Jasmine Noble, an East High parent and coach with the district. She feels that, if there is an emergency, parents can be contacted by schools.

“For emergencies. That’s why you have parents’ phones,” Noble said. “That’s why you have parents’ numbers. You have everything with parents. So why not keep it the same way? Why would they ask for emergency contact information if they don’t contact us?”

However, Amal Daniel, a former East High student whose younger brother is now attending, feels the Georgia shooting serves as a grim reminder that students need to contact family in case the worst happens.

“In this day and age we live in, where kids are killing kids, deranged people got access to schools. Schools don’t have armed security outside of a couple police officers. My little brother needs his phone in school,” Daniel said.

“There are ways we can have regulations for what they can use it for inside and outside the classroom. You can discipline them more in the classroom. But when it comes down to it, my little brother, my sisters, everybody else, my nieces and nephews, they need a phone to have protection just to be able to call me or anybody else who can get them immediately.”

Hochul is expected to make her decision after a Sept. 20 summit on the issue.

A.I. assisted with the formatting of this story. Click here to see how WHEC News 10 uses A.I.