>The first sentence of this article links to information about the ban itself.

That article gives little information that's not in the original one, even clicking through to the article linked in that linked article gives scant details.

Here's the NYC public school district policy:

https://www.schools.nyc.gov/about-us/policies/cell-phone-and...

This is what's covered under the ban:

A personal internet-enabled device is any electronic device not issued by a school or NYCPS program that can connect to the internet, allowing the user to access content online. Examples of these personal devices include:

    * Communication Devices, such as cell phones, smartphones, and smartwatches.
    * Computing Devices, such as laptops, tablets, and iPads.
    * Portable music and entertainment systems, such as MP3 players and game consoles.

Smart kids then could use retro PDAs like Palm :)