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Local officials urge schools to limit smartphones and study AI's impact on student mental health
Summary
At the Greenwich United Way event, lawmakers pressed for measures including smartphone restrictions in schools and bills to study AI's effects on learning and mental health for young people.
Participants at the Greenwich United Way legislative breakfast discussed the intersection of artificial intelligence, smartphones and youth mental health.
Senator Ryan Fazio said a pilot he sponsored studied smartphone interventions in middle schools and concluded that limiting devices during school hours produced positive academic and mental-health outcomes. “I think that smartphones should not be permitted in schools during school hours for students,” Fazio said, adding that carve-outs could be considered.
Hector Arseno and others flagged the need for regulation and attention to negative social effects of AI and virtual experiences among young children. "There are some mental health issues as a result of not using AI properly," Arseno said, arguing curriculum and regulatory responses will be required.
Representative Tina Corpus noted the legislature considered more than 20 AI-related bills in 2025 and pointed to one bipartisan measure that limited AI from serving as a substitute for a medical second opinion. Corpus said the legislature should prepare students for AI-driven work while also exploring protections such as opt-in limits on recommendation algorithms for minors.
Speakers proposed several policy tools — student-device policies, studies of school mental-health capacity, mobile mental-health units and cross-state licensure for clinicians — and described legislative studies or bills they support. No binding decisions were taken at the breakfast.
