The Brief

Starting Tuesday, student cellphones, smartwatches and earbuds are banned during the school day in Los Angeles Unified School District.

Where did the ban come from?

LAUSD board members approved the policy in June, citing rising concerns about the affects of phones and social media on youth mental health, bullying and distraction from classroom instruction.

The resolution directed district officials to gather input from experts, educators, students, and parents and present revised rules about phone use to the board in the fall for implementation in January 2025, which was later delayed to February.

How common are cellphone bans, broadly?

Many states have adopted school cellphone policies in the past few years.

According to NCSL, which tracks state legislation, cellphone policies have become very popular over the last two years. Many states (including California) have passed laws about school cellphone use; about a third of states have introduced legislation; and many others have seen action from their executive branch or state school boards.

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Courtesy NCSL

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How is LAUSD rolling out its cellphone policy?

The district has left implementation up to each individual school, and district officials have said many schools already had bans in place.

But the expectation is the same:

• Students can't have cellphones, smartwatches and earbuds out during the school day.
• Students can use devices before and after school.
• There are exceptions during the school day for students who need their phones for the following:
  
  • Help with translation.
  • Health-based reasons, e.g. to monitor blood sugar.
  • Students who use a cellphone or other technology as part of an Individualized Education Program or 504 plan
• Schools must provide students access to their phones in case of an emergency.

The district designated $7 million for schools to purchase pouches, lockers, and other devices to store students’ phones. Schools could also opt for the free option of asking students to store their phones, smartwatches and earbuds in their backpacks.

How can parents and guardians contact their kids?

For things that aren’t an emergency, parents can go through a school's front office. Or they might send their kids an email — students still have Chromebooks.

As for emergencies, LAUSD Chief of School Operations Andrés Chait told LAist in November that there isn't a formal definition of "emergency," but that common sense applies. For example, if students have to leave campus because of an incident, or maybe there's an earthquake, that might constitute a time when staff members will let students have their phones to text their families.

What is the enforcement policy?

Based on policies reviewed by LAist, schools aren’t taking a uniform approach, but many do have escalating consequences for disobedience that involve parents.

For example:

• At Thomas Starr King Middle School, the first offense means a student’s phone is confiscated and available to be returned after school, with further offenses leading to phone calls home and, eventually, meetings with administrators.
• Hamilton High School’s policy says that students who don’t follow the policy “will have their Yondr pouch locked and unlocked each day.”
• At Lincoln High, parents have to come retrieve a phone if a student has more than one infraction.

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Education Editor Ross Brenneman contributed to this story.