![79444768 School boy (10-13) using mobile phone in classroom, sitting looking at phone](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/texting-class-nyc.jpg?quality=85&w=2400)
By Sam Frizell
New York City schools will soon permit more than 1.1 million students to bring cellphones and other devices to class, overturning a ban.
The new rules allow principals at each school to work with teachers and parents to develop school-specific cellphone policies, the New York Daily News reports, with the goal of allowing parents to stay in better touch with children in case of an emergency.
“Parents should be able to call or text their kids — that’s what this comes down to,” New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
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