California Governor Newsom signs law requiring school districts to restrict or ban student smartphone use on campus

With this law, California is the latest state to attempt to restrict student cell phone access in an effort to minimize classroom distractions and combat the effects of social media on children's mental health. Florida, Louisiana, Indiana, and several other states have passed laws to restrict student cell phone use in school.

“This new law will help students focus on their studies, their social development and the world in front of them while in school, not on their screens,” Newsom said in a statement.

However, some critics of cell phone bans say the responsibility for enforcing them should not fall on teachers. Others worry that the rules will make it harder for students to seek help in an emergency or argue that decisions about cell phone bans should be left to individual districts or schools.

“We support those districts that have already taken independent action to implement restrictions because, after examining the needs of their stakeholders, they have concluded that it makes the most sense for their communities in terms of safety, school culture and academic achievement,” said Troy Flint, a spokesman for the California School Boards Association. “We simply oppose the mandate.”

The law requires school districts to adopt rules restricting or prohibiting the use of smartphones on school property or under the supervision of school personnel by July 1, 2026. After that, school districts must update their policies every five years.

The move comes after Newsom signed a law in 2019 authorizing school districts to restrict students' cellphone access. In June, he announced plans to revisit the issue after the U.S. Surgeon General urged Congress to mandate warning labels on social media platforms and their impact on young people.

The governor then sent letters to districts last month urging them to limit student device use on campus. That came on a day that the board of the nation's second-largest school district, Los Angeles Unified, voted to ban students from using cellphones during the school day starting in January.

Republican Rep. Josh Hoover of Folsom introduced the bill to a bipartisan group of lawmakers who are also parents.

At the school where Hoover's children — ages 15, 12 and 10 — are allowed to use cell phones, a policy that many students aren't always happy with, which in part shows how addictive cell phones can be, he says.

“When you talk about breaking that addiction, it's certainly going to be difficult for students at times,” Hoover said. “But I think overall they understand why it's important, why it helps them focus better in class and why it actually helps them interact better with their peers face-to-face in school.”

Some parents have expressed concerns that banning cellphones at school could cut them off from their children in the event of an emergency. Those fears were heightened after a shooting at a Georgia high school this month left four people dead and nine injured.

The 2019 law that authorizes districts to restrict students' cellphone access includes exceptions for emergencies, and the new law does not change that. Some supporters of cellphone restrictions in schools say it's better to turn off cellphones in a school shooting situation so they don't ring and give away a student's location.

Teachers have reported increased student participation since the Santa Barbara Unified School District implemented a complete ban on student cellphone use in class in the 2023-24 school year, said Assistant Principal ShaKenya Edison.

Nick Melvoin, a Los Angeles Unified board member who introduced the district's resolution, said passing the policies at the district or state level could help ensure students don't feel like they're missing out on what's happening on social media.

Before student cellphone use was banned during the school day at Sutter Middle School in Folsom, students were seen recording fights, filming TikTok challenges and spending their lunch periods watching online content, said Principal Tarik McFall. The rule has “completely changed the culture” of the school, causing students to spend more time talking to each other, he said.

“Putting them away, turning them off and practicing that was a great thing,” McFall said.

In recent years, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers have relied more on technology to help their students learn, says Mara Harvey, a social studies teacher at Discovery High School in the Natomas Unified School District.

The Sacramento school district provides students in first through 12th grade with a Chromebook to access online textbooks and Google Classroom, a platform where teachers share classroom materials. But if a student forgets their Chromebook at home, their smartphone is “the next viable way for them to access the curriculum,” Harvey said.