LAUSD’s ‘really, really annoying’ cellphone ban may be working

At Venice High School, students now report to their sixth-period class for the first 10 minutes of the day. They stow their phones in portable metal cases with a clear, locking door.

And retrieve them at the final bell.

The new schedule is part of the Westside high school’s strategy to keep 2,300 students away from their phones, smartwatches, earbuds and other personal technology during the school day.

Dean of students David Galley said about 70 phones were confiscated outside of classrooms on the first day of the new policy.

“The kids we caught, they were all very, ‘Oh my fault. I won't do it again,’” Galley said. “They handed [the phones] over. It was very peaceful.”

The Los Angeles Unified School District Board voted in June to expand the district’s existing phone ban to include lunch and passing periods (“bell to bell”), and the policy took effect Tuesday.

The district reported no major disruptions in the first week, though educators LAist contacted said several schools are still waiting on their equipment.

The district set aside $7 million to purchase lockers (like those used at Venice High), pouches and other devices to store phones. A district spokesperson said in a statement that about half of schools chose to rely instead on the “honor system” and require students to keep their phones turned off and in their backpacks.

Not a cellphone in sight in math teacher Charles Styrbicki's Venice High classroom.

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Brian Feinzimer

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LAist

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David Galley walks the Venice High halls looking for students who haven't yet turned over their cellphones.

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Brian Feinzimer

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LAist

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In interviews with LAist, students and educators reported seeing fewer devices on campus, though compliance with the rules varied.

In Jessica Quindel’s data science class at Venice High, just two of about 18 students slid their phones into the numbered foam locker slots Wednesday.

“ If they're self-regulating and keeping their phone in their backpacks all day, that gets to the same benefit,” Quindel said. “We're not here to be like police officers. We just really want kids to connect and put their phones away so they can learn and connect with each other.”

Parents say ‘we are struggling at home’

The vast majority of teenagers — 95% — carry smartphones.

Board members cited rising concerns about the effect of phones and social media on youth mental health, bullying and distraction from classroom instruction.

Parent Norma Chávez said her “well-behaved” 13-year-old daughter has gotten her phone confiscated in the past.

“We are struggling at home to get the kids to stop using" phones, Chávez said. She hopes that a stricter policy at school will make it easier to limit screen time at home.

Chávez, who volunteers at Richard E. Byrd Middle School in Sun Valley and leads the Parent Teacher Student Association there, is also worried about the academic impact of smartphones in the classroom. The majority of students at the school are not reading or meeting math standards for their grade level.

"During the pandemic, the phone was their friend," Venice High School Principal Yavonka Hairston-Truitt said. "As it became the friend, it became difficult to part from friend. Difficult to go five minutes without looking at friend."

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Brian Feinzimer

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LAist

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“We have to try anything we can so that we can help our kids improve their grades and do well in school,” Chávez said.

But some students LAist interviewed say the new policy strips them of a useful tool and doesn’t address underlying challenges in public education, including a lack of resources for extracurricular activities.

Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies freshman Miles, 15, said that prior to the policy, he’d use his phone to take photos of assignments and when he’d finished his work.

“For day-to-day school life, it’s just really, really annoying,” he said.

“I think banning our phones just makes us more focused on our phones and missing our phones. If they want to get us more focused on our education, they have to make the education more interesting to us.”

He said that although the district spent millions of dollars to implement the restrictions, students have to raise funds to pay for band trips that include clinics where he can practice trumpet and ample time to socialize with his peers.

“It makes it a lot less fun when we have to jump through all these hoops to go to the places that we want to go,” Miles said.

Bravo Medical Magnet High School college advisor and parent Victoria Montes said students at the Boyle Heights campus were previously allowed to use their phones, with educator permission. Common tasks included scanning QR codes to sign into the campus college center or download information from prospective schools.

“I just wish that we could teach students how to use a tool rather than just take it away,” Montes said.

Venice High School math teacher and instructional coach Jessica Quindel said she was excited to see a student pull out a book in their homeroom class on the second day of the new policy. "I haven't seen a book in so long because they take out their phones," she said.

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Brian Feinzimer

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LAist

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Venice High sophomore Sophia, 15, said instead of limiting access to technology, teachers can capture students’ attention by changing up the school day. For example, her English teacher sometimes takes the class to the school’s garden.

“There's other ways that you can re-ground yourself in a classroom without having your property or like something being stripped away from you like that,” Sophia said.

‘You hear students talking to other students’

At Garfield High School students were already banned from bringing phones on campus and will now have to store them in “Cellphone Airbnb” boxes (once their shipment arrives) at the start of each class.

Elizabeth Ruff, who teaches English at the East L.A. high school, supports the move to keep phones away from students during class. But she's concerned about how much time enforcing the new policy will consume.

An agreement between the district and the teachers union about the new policy pledges to make an effort to “minimize the impact to instructional time.”

"Anytime you implement a big sweeping change like this, there are going to be hiccups that are frustrating,” Ruff said. "If we can try to be patient with one another and reflect on what's going well and work to improve what's not going well, I’m hopeful that the end result will be a better learning environment for our students.”

Among the more manageable struggles students mentioned are figuring out what time it is and where to meet up with friends for lunch or after school.

“I found it to be a little annoying for sure, but it's nothing I can't, like, work out,” said Cyrus, 17, a senior at Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies in Mid-City.

He said he’s seen fewer phones on campus since the school started using the locking pouches.

“People are definitely communicating more,” he said. “You hear students talking to other students … rather than just people being isolated on their phones.”