A future disconnected
By James Tong 11/6/2024
It is the first period of the day. In class, students are sneaking peeks at their phones under desks, waiting for a ping of a new message. Come 2026, students may have to say goodbye to this habit as California schools prepare for a major change—restricting phones from classrooms. No longer can students text a friend or log onto a mobile game to pass the time in class. While the reasoning behind statewide Phone-Free Schools Act is to reduce distractions at school, it will only result in students resorting to new ways of bypassing these rules. Instead, schools could implement incentive-based systems to encourage students to keep their phones turned off.
By July 1, 2026, every school within California will be mandated to adopt a policy limiting or prohibiting the use of phones during school hours. Despite efforts to restrict phones in the classroom by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2019, his previous efforts only specified that school districts have the authority to regulate the use of phones during school hours—restrictions were not mandated. With Newsom's approval of The Phone-Free Schools Act, the decision making ability for individual schools is eliminated. According to Gov. Newsom, this new bill is a form of strict standardization among California schools with a few exceptions including medical purposes, individualized education plans and emergencies.
With many students glued to their phones throughout each school day, it's clear why schools are tightening their phone policies. Excessive usage impacts students' mental health and increases the risks of cyberbullying. Furthermore, short-form content such as TikTok or Instagram reels deteriorates students’ attention spans, making learning, communication and processing information far more difficult.
Conversely, phones play a significant role in helping students socially and academically. Social media, although often viewed in a negative light, allows students to connect. Since teachers at the school primarily post assignments and announcements on Canvas, students also utilize phones to track important due dates through mobile Canvas. Phones are often far more convenient than laptops, enabling quick searches on a topic or easy access to digital flashcards. They serve as powerful study tools for students moving from class to class and supporting efficient, seamless learning in between.
"I use my phone during breaks to quickly review for assessments and read new messages and emails. Phone usage is completely normalized at Leland and there are many instances where we need to use our phones for academic related reasons such as checking grade book updates and upcoming assignments," Sophomore Aamir Lokhandwala said.
California is not alone in targeting phone usage at a statewide level: Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, South Carolina and Ohio are among the states to already carry through with phone restricting policies at schools. For instance, Florida specifically targeted social media access by blocking them on the school’s Wi-Fi. Although a well-meaning attempt to minimize distractions during school hours, students bypassed this Wi-Fi blocker simply by using data.
The tendency for students to find loopholes around phone bypass restrictions already renders the Phone-Free Schools Act largely ineffective. Despite strict prevention methods already being enforced by some teachers, students still find ways to use their devices in class. Even with phone confiscation, social media and games can still be accessed on computers. Without increased supervision or new methods of preventing this, a bill targeting screen time at school will never reach its intended goal, with Florida being a prime example.
"The phone pouches that some teachers use is a good idea to restrict students from them during class time. But since the pouches are not always checked, many students are able to easily bypass it," Junior Harry Yin said.
Without increased supervision across the board, the Phone-Free Schools Act bill is largely ineffective due to the lack of strict enforcement overall. Schools remain better off with tailored approaches that best fit their own student and community situations.
About the Contributors
James Tong
Writer
James Tong is a writer for the school journalism. He enjoys collaborating with others and this is his first year in journalism. His hobbies include swimming, biking, hanging out with friends and listening to music.
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