Hang up: Newsom urges California schools to keep students off phones in class

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) — California Governor Gavin Newsom urged all school districts in the state on Tuesday to restrict students' use of smartphones in classrooms.

The governor’s message came as children across the Golden State begin the new school year.

“As we strive to create the best learning environment for all students this new academic year, I write today to raise an urgent issue that affects their well-being: the pervasive use of smartphones in schools,” Newsom wrote in a letter to school districts.

According to the governor, using smartphones has connections to heightened depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions. He pointed to a survey that showed 72% of high school teachers and 33% of middle school teachers called distractions from cellphones a significant issue. Separate research discovered that 97% of students use their phones for a median of 43 minutes daily — a scale ranging from under a minute to over six hours.

That led Newsom to write that reasonable guardrails for using smartphones in schools must be implemented.

The governor pointed to existing law as the way for school districts to impose the restrictions. Assembly Bill 272 — written by Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, a Torrance Democrat — was passed in 2019 and gave school districts the ability to limit smartphone use during school.

“This legislation was a crucial step in our efforts to minimize distractions and foster a more conducive environment for our students to learn,” Newsom wrote. “It is imperative that school districts take full advantage of this law to address the growing concerns surrounding student well-being and academic performance.”

Muratsuchi praised the governor's stance, saying he supports limiting cellphone use.

"All school districts should develop their appropriate policy to balance appropriate student use of smartphones at school with curbing the impact of excessive smartphone use on a student’s educational, social, and emotional well-being," Muratsuchi said in a statement.

Some schools within the Los Angeles Unified School District already have imposed smartphone restrictions — which Newsom noted in his letter — and the district as a whole will have a blanket ban starting next calendar year.  

The board passed a resolution in June implementing the districtwide ban on phones during school hours. At the time, board president Jackie Goldberg called cellphone use in schools “out of control.”

Board member Nick Melvoin, who wrote the resolution that imposes the ban, said in June that he wanted the phone prohibition to help students focus on school and provide them a chance to interact more with each other.

There are over 1,000 schools in LA Unified.

“I’m glad to see the governor encouraging other districts to follow LA Unified’s lead in creating cellphone-free school days," Melvoin said in a statement. "Studies show that removing cellphones from school campuses can improve academic outcomes, mental health, and social interaction for students."

Newsom in his letter wrote that reducing students’ use of phones helps with concentration, academics and socializing. Schools that already have tapped the law to limit phone use, like those in Santa Barbara Unified, already have seen better test scores and grades, along with more student engagement and less bullying. He praised those schools, as well as LA Unified, for their leadership.

“Every classroom should be a place of focus, learning and growth,” Newsom wrote. “Working together, educators, administrators and parents can create an environment where students are fully engaged in their education, free from the distractions on the phones and pressures of social media.”

There are a handful of bills moving through the Legislature this session with a focus on youth and social media.

Assembly Bill 3172 by Josh Lowenthal, a Long Beach Democrat, would allow the state attorney general, district attorney or city attorney to file an action and impose civil penalties on a social media platform that fails to exercise ordinary care toward a child.

In his bill, Lowenthal said the largest social media platforms create and use features that they know hurt children and can contribute to their deaths.

Senate Bill 976 — written by East Bay Democratic state Senator Nancy Skinner — is called the Protecting Our Kids from Social Media Addiction Act. It would, among other things, bar notifications to children’s phones from midnight to 6 a.m. and during school hours, unless a parent gave consent.

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