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Connections
A smiling man with short dark hair wearing a blue button-down shirt and a grey blazer. He is holding a pair of eyeglasses. The word "Connections" appears on the left side of the photo in vertical letters.
Connections

What do local high school students think of the bell-to-bell ban?

By Evan Dawson,
Megan Mack, Julie Williams
Published February 19, 2026 at 5:21 PM EST
Four people wearing headphones sit at a table in a radio talk studio: a young man front left has short brown hair and is wearing glasses, a black and purple button-down shirt and black pants; a man front right has very short dark hair and is wearing glasses, a grey button-down shirt, jeans and sneakers; a young woman back left has long brown and red hair and is wearing a black hooded sweatshirt over a black t-shirt; a young man back right has short brown hair and is wearing a green plaid button-down shirt.
Gary Pudup
/
WXXI News
(foreground) Carter Markowycz, (background) Norah Kirkebye and Eli Fybush with host Evan Dawson on "Connections with Evan Dawson" on Thursday, February 19, 2026
WXXI News

K-12 students are two thirds of the way through their first year under a smartphone ban during the school day.

The ban was intended to remove the distraction from technology that many students experience.

With students on February break, we welcome a group of them on the program to discuss how they are experiencing the ban.

Our guests:

  • Helena Dixon, senior at Fairport High School
  • Eli Fybush, senior at Brighton High School
  • Norah Kirkebye, junior at Pittsford Sutherland High School
  • Carter Markowycz, freshman at Greece Arcadia High School

Connections
Evan Dawson
Evan Dawson is the host of "Connections with Evan Dawson." He joined WXXI in January 2014 after working at 13WHAM-TV, where he served as morning news anchor. He was hired as a reporter for 13WHAM-TV in 2003 before being promoted to anchor in 2007.
See stories by Evan Dawson
Megan Mack
Megan Mack is the executive producer of "Connections with Evan Dawson" and live/televised engagement programming.
See stories by Megan Mack
Julie Williams
Julie Williams is an associate producer for "Connections with Evan Dawson." She started at WXXI in 2019 and has been working on Connections since 2022.
See stories by Julie Williams