Los Angeles school board votes to ban student cellphone use during school day

The Los Angeles unified school board passed a resolution on Tuesday to create “phone-free” days, making it the largest school district in the US to approve such a ban as more educators take up such policies.

Introduced by board member Nick Melvoin, the measure passed 5 to 2 and will be implemented starting in January 2025. Melvoin said in a statement the measure is meant to support “students’ academic success and wellbeing”, adding that studies have shown smartphones and social media distract kids from learning and stifle their in-person social connections.

“Kids no longer have the opportunity to just be kids,” Melvoin said. “I’m hoping this resolution will help students not only focus in class, but also give them a chance to interact and engage more with each other – and just be kids.”

The Los Angeles ban is not the first of its kind, with districts increasingly exploring ways to address technology use in the classroom. A measure proposed in South Carolina this month would ban students from using cell phones during the school day across all public schools in the state.

To enforce such bans, school districts have proposed locking up devices in lockers or partnering with companies that provide special pouches to keep devices away until they are released automatically at the end of the day. Educators’ attempts to address phone and social media use among students come as the US surgeon general Vivek Murthy urged social media platforms on Monday to issue health warnings for young users amid what he called an “ongoing youth mental health crisis”.

“While we are late as a society to ultimately making these platforms safer, it’s urgent that we start taking action now,” Murthy said. “Because the truth is, there’s nothing more important to the mental health and wellbeing of our kids.”

Such warnings would mimic those used to reduce tobacco use, first issued in the US in 1966 when 42% of Americans smoked. Today, only 12% of Americans smoke, with the reduction being contributed to a number of factors, including education.

Freedom of speech advocates have spoken out against such warnings, stating that efforts to protect children’s safety online should be balanced with privacy concerns. Such bans risk cutting young people off from important resources, said Aaron Mackey, free speech and transparency litigation director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

“If Congress is serious about protecting children online, it should enact policies that promote choice in the marketplace and digital literacy,” he said. “Most important, we need comprehensive privacy laws that protect all internet users from the predatory data gathering and sales that target us for advertising and abuse.”