Banning Cellphones in School. And Why Isn't Chicago Hosting World Cup?

Bloomington, Indiana's always been a town of lifelong learners, lectures that run long, dinner table debates that run longer. We're always studying something. But this year, the syllabus changed. We learned about blitzes and blocks, pick sixes, and play action. And what the inside of that outside stadium looks like on a sunny Saturday afternoon. We may not always understand the whole thing, but man, if it isn't fun to learn. Visit Bloomington, learn something new. Today on CityCast Chicago, Illinois has finally passed their cell phone ban. We talk about what's in it. Plus, World Cup Energy is taking over Chicago and how early do the fireworks start in your neighborhood? It's Monday, June 15th. I'm Jacoby Cochran, and this is what Chicago is talking about. Welcome back to the podcast, my friends. I hope y'all week is off to a good start. I've got two amazing voices in the building with us. Adora Namigada is back. Adora is back to see you. So good to see you too. We've also got Yerani Madio in the building with us. Yerdani. Welcome back to the podcast. I always have so much fun. We have fun when you are in the building as well. That rained last week. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. The rain that we have had. Insane. Really got chewed off to a wild start. I have seen windows smashed in. I saw little trees, big ass trees, smashing people's cars. Like, how did y'all fare in the rain? I got called in it late last week. But again, I did not get the worst of it either in my neighborhood or personally. What about y'all? Do I'm going to start with you? Yeah, I went to a dance class with a friend last Thursday, and I was in the South Loop, and we went to an Indian restaurant after. And we looked out the window and we were ready to leave. And we were like, oh, I guess we're not leaving. Then everybody's cell phone started going off with those weird alerts. And it was you were in a horror movie because everybody was going off. So, yeah, we just waited it out. We had to extend that combo. But luckily, I like her. So. You know, what's my bad? Luckily. You did not feel trapped in the rest of the eye. Could have been like a really bad date kind of thing, you know, and that would have been far worse. 100%. Yeah, Annie, what about you? Oh my God. On Wednesday, I felt like total from the Wizard of Oz. I was like, I'm about to get swept up in the wind because I had gotten off from the bus and I was walking home. And it was just like a little drizzle at first. I was like, it's just fine. I can walk through this. And then the wind started going crazy. Like I literally saw it like things were being thrown around. And I was like, I need to sprint home. Or I'm for real about to get like swept up in this wind. Like not it. On Wednesday, I was outside driving and so many of the. Street lights had got knocked out. And I'm going to be honest. Because of the rain and the wind, I didn't even see the streetlights. And then Thursday, I wasn't driving, but I went out to get my haircut. And as soon as I got back outside, like I just happened to look up. And that, I'm going to just call it that piece or that sliver of thunder that cut through the sky. Oh.

Oh, that shit put the fear of God my eyes. Just looking. I was like, damn, this world is so big and majestic and out of my control. What? And we can't control the elements. That's what's so interesting. We make so much tech, but. And then you see it, right? And then you got to wait. It's like, fooom. Or you're just like, Look at the weather forecast and it doesn't look like we are out of the rainy part of this month just yet. But I'm hoping it don't get as bad as it did last week. Let's get this conversation started. Adora lawmakers have been debating for a couple of years now on whether or not they would essentially ban cell phone, but also other pieces of technology in the classroom. And it looks like they finally agreed on a bill. What are the details here? Yes, so they agreed on a bill. We're just waiting for Governor J.B. Pritzker to sign it. So basically, students wouldn't be allowed to use personal cell phones, smartwatches, personal laptops, tablets, and gaming consoles. At school or in the classroom, specifically elementary and middle school students wouldn't be allowed to use these at all during the day. But high schoolers would be allowed to use them during non-instructional time. So like maybe they're, what's that time called when you're walking in between classes? It's been so long. Passing period. Passing period. Thank you. I was going to say recess. Well, I was going to say recess. I ain't been there in a while. They beat recess out of you, you know. So no recess once you're out of middle school. Before I asked some more details, last time y'all was in a classroom where the college, high school, like think back. How prolific were cell phones at the time? Because when I was in high school, they... almost everybody had one, but it wasn't as integrated in our lives. Like the internet wasn't as fast. You couldn't do everything. You could like call, you could send text messages, maybe play a couple games, which couldn't do much. What about y'all? What was your experience like? I remember having limited text messages. Like, you could only send 250 texts a month or like 500 texts a month. And honestly, my friends and I in high school, we were old school. Like, we just kept a notebook and we wrote notes so everybody would have a period assigned to them. And they would write a note to everybody. And then we would hand it off to the next person during the passing period. So you couldn't like tell we were passing notes. Got it. Pen and paper. You know, what about you? What was your experience like? I feel like, well, I'm aging myself. I feel like I'm the baby of CityCast. You are. You are. And that's why we got you all bore. We was like, we need this perspective. Thank you, thank you. I mean, I had the pen and paper. Okay, tell us about tech though. No, your ass hilarious. I didn't expect you to be like, we had a schedule for the journal. We was passing notes covertly. Can you tell him type A?

No, that's great, though. I mean, I literally, like, just graduated college. So it's, like, phones and, like, laptops were everywhere. So, but actually, like, so I went to a charter school here, and they were very much, like, we don't want you using your phones, like, during the day and whatever. But people are using them anyways. Like, there was, like, these baskets in the front of the door that you were supposed to put your phone into or, like, your iPod. But, like... I remember I was a goody-to-shoe, so I did put my phone in the basket, but it was like, I know, I know, but it was like, my class had like 30 kids. And I remember only seeing like seven phones in the basket. And I was like, we all know this is cab, but I'm not a snitch. So when we would be like filming like movie star videos in the bathroom, like, you know, like they were there. They were a part of my life growing up. I understood. Question two, though. How did they enforce it? Like, if only seven of 30 kids are complying with the rule, were there actually any punishments, like if they caught people with cell phones? It's just such a difficult thing to enforce. So there were like repercussions. So if you were caught with your phone like in the day, you wouldn't eat, you wouldn't be able to have it like until the end of the day. Like it would go in the teacher's desk. But then obviously parents would have an issue with that because it's like, why are you like grown adult like taking my child's phone that I bought with my money? And. if it was a pattern like the teacher would be like you can't bring your phone to the classroom like this whole week so it it just it was not enforced at all like it was kind of like almost an honor system, but it's kind of hard to do an honor system in a public charter school in Chicago. And that makes me even more interested, Adora, about the details of this bill. Like I said, a version of it was around last year, didn't make it through. Illinois is now the 36 state, I believe, to institute this type of policy. But when you get into the nitty-gritty, what are they asking school districts to do and what type of guidance or enforcement policies are they providing? Sure. So each school district will be required to create a uniform policy that applies to every single school within its district that limits cell phone use, right? And the State Board of Education is going to provide a sort of bare bones policy template by this September. Then this school year, all the different districts should be meeting with their teachers, teachers unions, parents, students, and discussing what should we do to enforce this ban? And then that will go into effect 2027, 28 school year. Schools are going to create the system, and that is part of the pushback from specifically teachers' unions. It does seem like there is broad support for this. Like most research does show, especially from like Pew Research, for example, that most high schoolers think that cell phones are a problem in the classroom.

And most U.S. adults think that there should be some sort of cell phone ban in the classroom. So most people do agree with that. That's why Illinois is joining 35 states. But the teachers unions were just bringing up the concern. What about the cost of implementing this? Because especially the way you implement it can be cost prohibitive. There are three typical ways that schools would enforce such a ban. One would just be keep the phone in your lockers or in your backpack. But that's... Easy for people to get around as Yon was just telling us. Cubbies having cubbies in the classroom where people all put their phones or the thing that seems to be most effective is using these magnetic pouches that cost about $20 to $30 a pouch. So then depending on how big your district is, that's going to be way more money depending on the size. So there is a chance that they will get some 800 plus different plans. at some point later this year. According to WBEZ and some great reporting, there are some exceptions, right? A health care professional has determined it's medically necessary. What are some of the other ones? Yeah. If you have an individualized education plan, IEP, that requires you to have a personal device, then you would be off the hook from this. Also, if you are a caregiver for a family member, then you would be able to have access to your phone. And also, if you are an English language learner and you need a personal device to. help you translate something. When you look at some of the studies around places that have instituted this, so they're saying it's a distraction of school, it's impacting productivity, student success, they're learning. Preliminary studies in some of these other places, is that being proven? When they taking the phones away, are students performing better? Okay, so the thing is, the research is all pretty early on this and a little bit of mixed results. So the National Bureau of Economic Research did a study that they released in April, and they found that storage pouches specifically reduced phone use, but that they minimally impacted test scores. Okay. The phone use improved, but the test scores not so sure. Now, Peoria schools piloted a pouch program as well. And in the middle of the year, they surveyed 8,000 students who said that they had better focus and they were more engaged in the classroom. So that's also what's kind of hard about this, too, is, well, like I said, there is pretty broad public support for it. The reasons that it helps improve performance may not specifically, or at least we don't have like total widespread proof that it improves test scores specifically. We just have proof that it might improve. improve the quality of education. So things like your mental health while you're in the classroom should hypothetically be better because you're not on social media or things like you should be able to pay better attention during a lecture that you're in because you're not scrolling on TikTok. You should be able to interact better with your peers because you don't have this device in the way. So it's more things like that that are harder to measure. Does Chicago public schools already have a policy or are they one of those dishes that is going to have to now create one?

Like, and again, we love it. We love to talk about our schedule of endless things to do. But as we've seen, the logistics of all of those in one place, and Soldier Field would have more than likely been the site of these games. And we saw what one Saturday of World Cup traffic looked like. Right. Exactly. And that wasn't even like a main game. So imagine what it would have been like a main game. Like people have been trying to buy tickets to the random locations since like last year. So. No, I really wanted this to happen, but I think it was the right call. I was reading a piece from The Athletic earlier, and they said examples of lesser-known calls born by U.S. host cities and ultimately U.S. taxpayers include a $15 million Dallas Broadcast Center bill for the tournament, which will be knocked down afterwards. FIFA band host cities from... That's crazy. from sponsorships with coffee, seltzer, and tequila brands. There's special access traffic lanes and police escorts for FIFA VIPs, which will impact those cities, the six figure cost of making clean stadiums and wiping any signs of non-Fifa branding, and then the additional 13 million that they had to spend on MetLife Stadium, which is hosting the final July 19th. And so there are millions of dollars that each city has to incur. Some cities like waived. tax incentives. I think like Missouri, Georgia, and Florida are losing out on $60 million in tax revenue because they waive taxes on ticket sales to entice FIFA to pick their cities. And that's one of the things you were just mentioning. Like the Olympics, FIFA, these big international games, they exercise a lot of control over their host cities. And the economic value that they espouse, like billions of dollars that you're going to receive. A lot of people question if the cities and the countries ultimately benefit from that. How much. you know, did that actually impact the city and residents as a whole? And so socialized costs but privatized games. Mm-hmm. 100%. And so, Yerani, you talk about being excited for the World Cup again. How are you finding ways to celebrate? Who you're rooting for, one, and how are you finding ways to celebrate despite? You know, that part of you that does wish all headaches aside that you could feel that energy in Chicago. Because who can say the next time we may be up for an opportunity like that? Right. I know, exactly. I literally saw this TikTok the other day that was breaking it down. Like, who should you read for if you're not like a soccer fan? So it's like if you are of that residence, you root for that country. If you have familial heritage to that country.

you root for the country. If you just studied abroad, if it was only for two to three months, you cannot root for the country. But if it was like a year and you actually like learn things, then you can read for the country. There's a whole thing. If you're a significant other is from that country. It depends. It depends. It depends. It depends. It depends. It can't other. Come on now. It's like your country comes first. But like if you really hate your country, then like then you can root for your significant others country. So that's kind of right now. That's funny because my one of my best friends from college, Brooke, our partner Rodrigo, they met while she was working in Ecuador. And they now live in California. And he's obviously very excited to watch those games. But that's her team that she's rooting for now. But she was there for years. And they're now married. And I think they're celebrating their fifth anniversary, like right around now. So shout out to Brookes. They're in it. And so, yeah, I think in those cases, for sure, you could definitely pick up your partner's home country. There's a lot of layers to it. And too, though, I feel like as a Latina, I've seen this. on the internet as well. And I agree. Like, if one of us wins, we all win. Like, I mean, right now, I mean, my main heritage is like Mexican. So, of course, I'm rooting for them. I was so excited that they won the other day against, um, South Africa. And I remember I saw the jokes about that. It was like so many other like African countries were rooting for Mexico, not South Africa. And everybody was like, why? And South Africa said to like Latino Americans, so you know how you feel about Argentina? That's how we feel about South Africa. So Argentina is hilarious. No, I definitely feel that because I'm of Ugandan descent. And so Uganda is never going to make the World Cup. Hope we do. But so far, I'm not holding my breath. So I will root for any African country because a lot of the teams have a lot of African immigrants on them anyway. You know what I'm saying? So it's like we always win somehow. Just got to close your eyes and wink a little bit. But also who are you pulling for? I'm just literally, okay, I don't even know who's in right now. I just know Uganda is not in. So I'm giving you my overall strategy. So I turn on the TV. There's an African team playing. I'm rooting for them. If two African teams are playing each other, I don't care. Yeah. Because Africans will come out on top. Then at some point, most of the African countries are going to get eliminated. And then I'm going to go back to Team USA. And then we'll see what happens from there. Also, you just reminded me, though. Yeah. So there's 48 teams this year. That's the first time ever. that we've had it to be that big. That's true. And it's because they're greedy. They're money. They're money hungry. Like genuinely. There's no. I used to watch a couple of videos to explain exactly. I remember every four years how this thing works. I have to knockouts work. And then we get to single elimination. But yes, I had to go do a refresher with 48 teams in there. Who was all there? No, yeah. So who are you rooting for, Jacoby?

No, but I'm just rooting for good soccer. I'm just going to watch it. I did catch the everybody rooting for Mexico over South Africa. I'm not rooting for the U.S. inherently anyway. But yeah, I'm just like watch the game of whoever balling is balling. I'm rooting for Mexico in some respects because Michelle rooting for Mexico. Real? Love that. We too. Our creative producer, Michelle Navarro, did put together a list of some places where people can't watch the World Cup. They've got recurring watch parties at recess Chicago near restaurant, standard bar and grill. Also, Block Club Chicago put together a list. You got any places where people should be checking out? Yes. So I really, this was the one I really wanted to see as well that I didn't get to. Osito, it's like a bar in Little Village. So that's honestly my kind of go-to. But I also have been looking at the list that blog posted. So I will be at Joy whenever that happens. Brazil versus Morocco, that's going to be such a good game. That's going to be good. So I will be at Joy. I will be at the Ramava Theater. And those are probably my most likely to attend. Yeah, they've got. where Argentinian national games would be, Colombian, German, Korean, and then also a couple USA games. They got two places where Brazil versus Morocco. They know it's going to be popping. They had to drop extra. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I love Brazil. You know what? I'm running for Brazil, too. Okay? I love Brazil. Right. We love Brazil. Oh, Fulton Market. That's probably, that's going to be a good one after, like, happy hour. Yeah. If you are listening and you've got some spots that we, that were not covered on these lists, please reach out to a 773-780246. The World Cup brings me so much joy because I just love seeing people come together, like, not to be cheesy, but like when there's so much tumult in the world, it's just we need to have those fun moments where you can just all go and like vibe and be like wanting team. I have a really like cherished memory of when I was like 11. I went to see it was like a... It was like a World Cup something or like a friendly match. And it was in Soldier Field. And I went with my dad. And that was my first big soccer game. And it was just so like heartwarming to see everybody just literally having such a great time together, like becoming best friends with the people next to them without even knowing them. So I think that it's going to be a chaotic summer for sure. I am excited to see all of the new relationships that form and just having like temporary moments of unity, I suppose, that maybe can go beyond that.

Speaking of people coming together in the summer, we are pretty much in the middle of early... Summer fireworks season. Obviously, the 4th of July is right around the corner. People are going to be busting them things off. A reminder, fireworks in a lot of ways are illegal in Illinois to use and purchase. But that don't stop people. I'm having a damn good time. I was like, they are. Wow. That's why people got to go to Indiana to get them. I'm hoping to go back some Indiana fireworks with our audience development manager, Chimo Okoro. But I'm not a huge fireworks person. Like, it's not. Something that I instantially think about wanting to do myself. I still got like this, this firework canister that my homie gave me like three years ago that I never set on fire. It's just like sits in a closet somewhere. What about y'all? Like, are y'all big on fireworks? It would scare me to set them off myself because I did an internship at a TV station and one of the meteorologists blew out his eyeball. And I mean, he was on air. Oh, God. Yo. No warning on that, just dropped it straight on us. Sorry. So, yeah, I will never be setting off a firework. However, if other people are setting them off and I'm planning to go see them, That sounds like a time. Like I like seeing them on Lake Michigan. The Navy Pier does them twice a week. Is it still Wednesday and Saturday or something? Maybe it be in fireworks. They are Wednesday and Saturday. Oh, wow. So it's nice to go on a Wednesday because I feel like Saturday is too crowded, you know, a nice little Wednesday firework. And also there's a cute like business that does kayaking and you kayak out to the fireworks. I like that. Okay. So, all right. So we got one person pro fireworks. Yanny, what about you? How you feel about the fireworks? I honestly, I'm kind of indifferent. I, which, like, I mean, I hear them all the time. I feel like people always joke, oh, is that a firework or a gunshot? And it's like, man. We mean, my, my spirit, no the difference. How early do they start in your neighborhood? They've already started. Okay. I live right by Midway, like West Lawn. Okay, cool. Chicago-Long kind of area. So we're not the trendy Mexicans like up in Pilsen or Little Village, but we're here. We're out here. I love that. So they're already popping off in your neighborhood. Oh, yeah. What about your neighborhood? You said you're not hearing them yet? I'm not hearing yet, but I'm surprised because usually we do have them going on. Galewood, Austin, Belmont, Craigon, kind of that like meeting point. their little triangle. Mm-hmm. Okay. So you're not hearing them as much yet. I was at my mom's house. She is on the far south side, like Calumann Heights area. And, oh, you was talking about, you know, knowing the difference. We were literally sitting in the back, just all kind of talking. And there was just out of nowhere, just like, blah, blah, blah. And nobody moved. Like, the conversation just continued because we just knew. We were like, damn, damn five ways. We know the difference. And that was like the first weekend of June.

And so, yeah, I think I want to say they started like late May in my mom's neighborhood. But they pick up like pretty quickly and like, and then last for about two weeks, 10 days to two weeks after the fourth as well. What do you think is such the appeal for people to set them off where they're like doing it day after day. I think human beings like loud things. I think they like flashy lights and loud things. Like birds. Yeah. I just I just think we're just like, oh! I've told this story probably every year to this point. But I had a cousin, Marlon, who was our family's fireworks savant. He'd pull up in an old school, popped a trunk and had something for everybody from the youngest kid to the oldest kids. And you, like, graduated into more dangerous fireworks. He was very good about like safety, even though we was doing it right in the middle of the street. And it had always been illegal. But when he passed, I was just like, I had never seen a neighborhood of fireworks to match it. I do enjoy, like, I'm close enough that I can hear the fireworks on a good day when like a home run is hit. at Sox Park. And so I don't, I don't hate them. And I will say, I'm starting to love like the drone shows a little bit. Like, if people start losing the fireworks and start replacing them with some of them drone shows, I wouldn't, I wouldn't mind that. I like seeing them, but I don't like hearing them. You never seen a drone, like a drone light show? They're kind of cool. They're kind of cool. Put that on my summer list. They seem dangerous too, but, you know, is given Spider-Man. Mysterio vibes, but... I love the vibes of fireworks, though. I feel like it's so nostalgic, like sitting on the beach, just like watching them. I love that you went from indifference of, man, you know, actually... Come to think of it. Actually, that shit kind of was. Like, okay, I would never start it myself, but like, if it was like summer night and like, people are like, what should we do? Okay, maybe I'd be like, okay, let's go chill by the beach and watch them. Yeah, now sitting on the point when the fireworks is going off is an enjoyable time. If you are against the fireworks, but want to be outside on the fourth, Winnamek Park's fourth for all celebration is coming back for their third year in a row. And again, if you've got a place in the city you love. to see some controlled fireworks. Please hit us up, 773-780-0246. I want to give a huge thank you to our guest today. Again, I said it at the top. I'm going to say it again. I absolutely appreciate y'all making time for us, and I love every time y'all on the podcast. Yenamadio, thank you for being back with us. We'll talk to you soon. Yes. And Adora Namigade, thank you for being here with us at CityCat, Chicago. Thank you for having me. For everybody else, don't miss out on everything we have to offer. We're not just a podcast. If you knew here, we also have a daily newsletter. We've got a website that we're updating every single day and we've got a packed events calendar. All you got to do is go to Chicago.citycast.fm and sign up now. One more offering to entice you to stick around. Some good news.

Tuesdays on the terrace is back at the Museum of Contemporary Art tomorrow, kicking off their summer season with Khalil El Zabar and the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble is going down 5.30 to 8. I'd have been a few times, and sometimes, y'all, though it's free, it can get backed up. So try and get there early and bring your blankets. I'm going to drop a link for you in the show notes. We will be back bright and early tomorrow. I'll talk to you then. Peace.