Frankie Focus Fiasco: Hochul's Tone-Deaf Mascot Misstep in New York's School Cell Phone Ban Campaign

New York has a new policy for middle and high school students. No more cell phones during school hours so students concentrate on learning. That's not a bad idea, but Kathy Hochul's 'campaign' to convince students to buy into the idea was very stupid.

Kathy Hochul hides cost of cell phone ban mascot ‘Frankie Focus’ — who gets called ‘tone deaf’ https://t.co/i4hRok2VpT pic.twitter.com/QMvMgs6fqh
— New York Post (@nypost) September 7, 2025

Gov. Kathy Hochul is refusing to disclose the costs of using a fuzzy “Frankie Focus” mascot unveiled last week to promote the “bell-to-bell” school cell phone ban, a Sesame Street-type character that even supporters flunked as “completely tone deaf.”
The mascot is more appropriate to connect with 4-and-5-year olds than the phone-obsessed teenagers the “bell to bell” prohibition is intended to help, educators said.
“It’s completely tone deaf,” said Queens high school teacher Moshe Spern. “We all agree that the cell phone ban would be great for students and learning. But having a silly cartoon character be the focus of the promotion loses the target audience: middle school and high school students,” the veteran teacher said. He added, “Having a cartoon character thrown in their face is not going to make them happy. It insults their intelligence.”
“The use of a mascot doesn’t appeal to parents and certainly not high school students. It doesn’t appeal to me,” said high school parent Yiatin Chu.
“I’m not sure the mascot helps her cause.”
She said the ban, which she supports, is a serious issue. There’s a lot of debate in high schools about students not having access to their laptops or phones that could be helpful during free study periods.

Frankie Focus Fiasco: Hochul's Tone-Deaf Mascot Misstep in New York's School Cell Phone Ban Campaign

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