Should students have cell phones at their desks—or in their lockers. In an emergency will a cell phone help if it is in a locker? Here is an idea: If a student uses their cellphone during class, the phone is taken away for a week. The second time, it is a month. That solves the problems—instead of putting students lives in danger when a cell phone is needed.
What do you think?
LAUSD cellphone policy—BANNED Starting in February
Here’s what parents and students need to know
By Mariana Dale, LA1st, 11/12/24 https://laist.com/brief/news/education/los-angeles-unified-lausd-cellphone-social-media-policy-february
Los Angeles Unified students will be banned from using their smartphones and social media during the school day starting in February 2025.
LAUSD’s new cellphone policy, explained
The LAUSD Board voted to expand the district’s existing technology restrictions in June, citing rising concerns about the impact of the technologies on youth mental health, bullying and distraction from classroom instruction.
California lawmakers voted in August to require all districts to ban student smartphone use by July 2026.
“It is clear that our students, our youth’s addiction to their cellphones and the content that cellphones bring into their lives needs to come to an end,” said superintendent Alberto Carvalho. “The impact on their mental health is real.”
LAUSD officials unveiled full details of the policy at a meeting Tuesday. The school board does not need to vote on it. District officials said the policy is final; now it’s up to individual schools to decide how they’ll enforce it.
What’s the new policy?
Implementation will vary from campus to campus, but at a minimum:
- Students may not use cellphones, smartwatches, and earbuds on campus during school hours.
- Devices must be turned off and stored.
Students can use devices before and after school and there are exceptions during the school day for students who need their phones for:
- Health-based reasons, i.e. to monitor blood sugar
- Translation
Students with disabilities who use a cellphone or other technology as part of an Individualized Education Program or 504 plan will also not lose access to their devices.
Schools must also provide students access to their phones in case of an emergency.
The district’s expectation is that when students come back from Presidents’ Day weekend in February, new policies will be in place at every school.
LAUSD Chief of School Operations Andres Chait said the policy is based on:
- a review of existing research on youth cellphone and social media use;
- feedback from parents, students and educators via in-person and virtual meetings; and
- consultation with unions, other districts, researchers and media professionals.
Chait said there are at least 50 LAUSD schools that already have strict cellphone policies.
What is an ‘emergency’?
Chait, who oversees school safety among other responsibilities, said there isn’t a formal definition of an “emergency.”
“When all else fails, apply common sense,” he said.
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.
A lockdown in and of itself is not necessarily going to constitute an emergency, however. District officials said they’re trying to balance student safety and mental health with the need to try and communicate with family at home.
In terms of basic communication — like if a student forgets their lunch at home — Chait said front offices exist to help bridge parents and their children during the school day.
So I can have a say in my school’s plan?
Schools will be expected to come up with their own rollout plan based on community input.
Options on the table for storing phones include:
- pouches (students put their devices in, and those devices are sealed with a special key);
- lockers;
- an honor system (phones in backpacks)
