The Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education on Tuesday voted to design a plan to ban cellphones during the school day.
The resolution, led by board member Nick Melvoin of District 4, directs the district to seek input from experts in the field, labor partners, staff, parents and students to outline a policy that prohibits cellphone usage in schools districtwide. The policy would take effect in January 2025.
The current policy bars cellphone use in class and restricts social media use at school to “educational purposes,” but educators say it’s not widely enforced.
Some options for implementation include using magnetic pouches or phone lockers to curb device use. The motion also commits to evaluating social media addiction in LAUSD students and makes usage exceptions for students who use smartphones for language translation.
The board’s move comes a day after the U.S. Surgeon General called on Congress to require warning labels on social media platforms, citing the detrimental effects social media use has on adolescents. On Tuesday, Politico reported that California Gov. Gavin Newsom was working with state lawmakers to pass restrictions on the use of smartphones during the school day.
LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho stressed the less-than-favorable classroom culture brought on by smartphones and insisted that when paired with social media, hurts students in ways that affect learning outcomes.
“I look at phones as a vehicle which is harmful. Coupled with the content that you put into that vehicle, platforms and apps, engineered to appeal to and capture the attention and addict young people through their use, have no place in our schools,” Carvalho said during the Tuesday meeting.
Board member Scott Schmerelson voted no on the resolution because he wasn’t convinced it made a clear definition of “instructional time” in regards to device allowances. Schmerelson also expressed concern with how school administrators, grappling with budget-fueled job losses, would enforce the ban.
Roxana Dueñas, a teacher at Roosevelt High School’s Math, Science, and Technology Magnet Academy in Boyle Heights, said that currently, the responsibility falls on teachers to police phone usage in classrooms. Determined to find a solution that works, she and a few other educators at Roosevelt independently implemented a system that requires students to stow their smartphones in a designated pouch before class begins
“I’ve noticed that when students don’t have access to their phone they may feel bored for a little bit and unsettled,” Dueñas said. “But it allows them to sometimes communicate with each other and engage in different ways than when they have their phones. It makes such a huge difference.”
Stephanie Perez, a rising senior at Francisco Bravo Medical Magnet High School and Boyle Heights Beat student reporter, foresaw student pushback if phones were banned districtwide and argued that because smartphones were so ingrained in school curriculum as a backup to computers, it could complicate production-focused classes.
“Now, a lot of our instruction is on our computers,” the 17-year-old said. “I have a journalism class and a yearbook class where it’s required for us to have our phones.”
While some parents agree with a total phone ban, Henry Lara, who has two children at Mendez High School, says there should be a compromise.
“I agree with the ban, but not for the whole day. I think they should let them use it in between classes or during breaks,” Lara said.