"A number of states, including Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Indiana, have passed laws restricting smartphone use in classrooms going into the 24-25 school year. Many Students in California fear that these new laws will travel to the golden state. But the truth is, it already has." --Ruby Deetz, 8th grade
TRIGGER WARNING!: This article contains topics of self-harm, suicide, drugs, and school shootings. Proceed with caution.
A number of states, including Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Indiana, have passed laws restricting smartphone use in classrooms going into the 24-25 school year. In addition, the governors of Virginia, Florida, South Carolina, and more have urged schools to limit or outright prohibit the use of the devices.
Many students in California fear that these new laws will travel to the Golden State. But the truth is, it already has. According to the Washington Post, the Los Angeles School District, the second largest district in the country, has already taken action. “The school board voted in June to ban cellphone use. In Clark County, Nev., the district will require students in middle and high schools to store phones in pouches during the day, starting this fall,” the Post reported. While this still only applies to Los Angeles schools, Governor Newsom is calling for action from the entire state.
According to EdSource, a bill, Assembly Bill 3216 renamed the Phone-Free School Act, was passed on August 28th, “requiring school districts to ban or restrict student smartphone use on campuses during school hours.” This bill mandates that all school districts, charter schools, and county offices of education create policies restricting the use of smartphones by July 1st, 2026.
The bill states in section 2 that the reasoning for the ban is because teen anxiety, depression, and suicide rates have gone up.“There is growing evidence that unrestricted use of smartphones by pupils [a student in school] at elementary and secondary schools during the schoolday interferes with the educational mission of the schools, lowers pupil performance, particularly among low-achieving pupils, promotes cyberbullying, and contributes to an increase in teenage anxiety, depression, and suicide,” the bill states.
A number of states, including Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Indiana, have passed laws restricting smartphone use in classrooms going into the 24-25 school year. In addition, the governors of Virginia, Florida, South Carolina, and more have urged schools to limit or outright prohibit the use of the devices.
Many students in California fear that these new laws will travel to the Golden State. But the truth is, it already has. According to the Washington Post, the Los Angeles School District, the second largest district in the country, has already taken action. “The school board voted in June to ban cellphone use. In Clark County, Nev., the district will require students in middle and high schools to store phones in pouches during the day, starting this fall,” the Post reported. While this still only applies to Los Angeles schools, Governor Newsom is calling for action from the entire state.
According to EdSource, a bill, Assembly Bill 3216 renamed the Phone-Free School Act, was passed on August 28th, “requiring school districts to ban or restrict student smartphone use on campuses during school hours.” This bill mandates that all school districts, charter schools, and county offices of education create policies restricting the use of smartphones by July 1st, 2026.
The bill states in section 2 that the reasoning for the ban is because teen anxiety, depression, and suicide rates have gone up.“There is growing evidence that unrestricted use of smartphones by pupils [a student in school] at elementary and secondary schools during the schoolday interferes with the educational mission of the schools, lowers pupil performance, particularly among low-achieving pupils, promotes cyberbullying, and contributes to an increase in teenage anxiety, depression, and suicide,” the bill states.
OSA Middle School Assistant Principal, Marcy Hernandez agrees with the reasoning for the ban. “I've seen higher rates of anxiety with students, I've seen higher rates with self-harm and self-esteem issues.” Hernandez thinks a ban is the only way the issue can be solved. “I'm reading a really good book right now, it's called The Anxious Generation and it's all about the impact cellphones on young people.” Published in 2024, by Jonathan Haidt, the book makes the case that the rise of social media, cellphones, and overprotective parents has caused a “rewiring” of children that is raising mental illness rates.
OSA Science department Chair and middle school teacher, Crystal Yan, has also noticed the impact cellphones have on students, “It's a really big problem. It's a constant distraction, especially when a little buzz or a sound can really trigger students to stop what they're doing and look at their phones,” says Yan, “A lot of students in the past when they were allowed to use their phones after doing their work would rush through and do a really poor job just so they could have that free time and their grades were really suffering,” Yan goes on to explain.
According to HelpGuide.org, the use of a cellphone triggers the same dopamine release in the part of the brain [the basal ganglia or nucleus accumbens] that is in charge of rewarding the use of alcohol and other substances, creating an addiction. “Their [children’s] brains aren't developed enough to reject stuff like drugs or alcohol or tobacco if it’s offered to them. Because we monitor the use of other things that are harmful and addictive to young people I think it makes sense to monitor this [cellphone use] as well,” says Hernandez.
Many students disagree with this new policy, like 16 year-old Helen Ho, a junior at Narbonne High in Harbor City, who, according to the Los Angeles Times, is “very furious” about the bans. "Students need phones for emergency situations and to maintain access to family," she said. "Students are already so restricted in school settings," Ho continued, adding that a ban would also violate students' rights to free speech. She claimed that she uses her phone for educational purposes at school, such as accessing information from flyers, which often just have QR codes on them, for which "you can't use your laptop," or applying to programs.
However, there are students who disagree with Ho. Senior Neel Thakkar, 16, of Reseda High School in Los Angeles, welcomes the restriction. He remembered that he was "addicted to Instagram" and that he couldn't "stop picking up [his] phone... even for two seconds," which made it difficult for him to concentrate when studying for AP tests.
In regards to many families' concern about not being able to reach their child in a time of crisis, Hernandez believes there's not much a family member can do in those scenarios. “There’s a lot of research that shows that in the case of an emergency, a phone is not helpful for a parent because a parent can't do anything,” says Hernandez. “If there was a school shooting, for example, a phone could actually endanger a child much more so than if they didn't have a phone because it could be a distraction, it could make noise that draws attention to them if they're trying to hide.”
However, some students disagree with Hernandez. “How am I supposed to say goodbye to my parents or tell them I love them in a school shooting if I don't have my phone?” says 8th grade Kaliyah Smith from OSA’s Literary Arts Department.
OSA Science department Chair and middle school teacher, Crystal Yan, has also noticed the impact cellphones have on students, “It's a really big problem. It's a constant distraction, especially when a little buzz or a sound can really trigger students to stop what they're doing and look at their phones,” says Yan, “A lot of students in the past when they were allowed to use their phones after doing their work would rush through and do a really poor job just so they could have that free time and their grades were really suffering,” Yan goes on to explain.
According to HelpGuide.org, the use of a cellphone triggers the same dopamine release in the part of the brain [the basal ganglia or nucleus accumbens] that is in charge of rewarding the use of alcohol and other substances, creating an addiction. “Their [children’s] brains aren't developed enough to reject stuff like drugs or alcohol or tobacco if it’s offered to them. Because we monitor the use of other things that are harmful and addictive to young people I think it makes sense to monitor this [cellphone use] as well,” says Hernandez.
Many students disagree with this new policy, like 16 year-old Helen Ho, a junior at Narbonne High in Harbor City, who, according to the Los Angeles Times, is “very furious” about the bans. "Students need phones for emergency situations and to maintain access to family," she said. "Students are already so restricted in school settings," Ho continued, adding that a ban would also violate students' rights to free speech. She claimed that she uses her phone for educational purposes at school, such as accessing information from flyers, which often just have QR codes on them, for which "you can't use your laptop," or applying to programs.
However, there are students who disagree with Ho. Senior Neel Thakkar, 16, of Reseda High School in Los Angeles, welcomes the restriction. He remembered that he was "addicted to Instagram" and that he couldn't "stop picking up [his] phone... even for two seconds," which made it difficult for him to concentrate when studying for AP tests.
In regards to many families' concern about not being able to reach their child in a time of crisis, Hernandez believes there's not much a family member can do in those scenarios. “There’s a lot of research that shows that in the case of an emergency, a phone is not helpful for a parent because a parent can't do anything,” says Hernandez. “If there was a school shooting, for example, a phone could actually endanger a child much more so than if they didn't have a phone because it could be a distraction, it could make noise that draws attention to them if they're trying to hide.”
However, some students disagree with Hernandez. “How am I supposed to say goodbye to my parents or tell them I love them in a school shooting if I don't have my phone?” says 8th grade Kaliyah Smith from OSA’s Literary Arts Department.
“I think they [the schools] are wasting their time,” says Cece Burger, a 7th grader in the Literary Arts Department. “There are more important issues that are happening in schools that we should be more worried about than phones.” Burger thinks that the ban on phones is unnecessary. “I feel like just having it in your backpack is fine, like in case there's an emergency and I need to text my mom,” says Burger, referring to the schools requiring students to put their phones in lockable pouches.
“I personally don't think it’ll work,” says Yan of the potential ban, also taking the commuting arrangements of some families into consideration when thinking about students having access to their phones, “I think there's a lot of parents who really want their student to have a phone on campus so they can reach them, especially somewhere like California where we do have a lot of students commuting through public transportation,” explains Yan, “I've also heard ways in which students have gamed the system so they could have their phones anyways."
“I personally don't think it’ll work,” says Yan of the potential ban, also taking the commuting arrangements of some families into consideration when thinking about students having access to their phones, “I think there's a lot of parents who really want their student to have a phone on campus so they can reach them, especially somewhere like California where we do have a lot of students commuting through public transportation,” explains Yan, “I've also heard ways in which students have gamed the system so they could have their phones anyways."
