California law restricts phone use in schools

The question is no longer whether your school should limit smartphone use in schools — it’s now the law. The question now is how.

The California Phone-Free School Act requires every school district, charter school, and county office of education to adopt a policy limiting or prohibiting the use of smartphones. It’s not optional. By July 1, 2026, your school needs a clear plan that everyone understands and will accept.

The problem

There is growing evidence that unlimited smartphone use is bad for us — and especially bad for kids and teens. California legislators passed the Phone-Free School law with urgency and near-unanimity because the proliferation of phones in schools “lowers pupil performance, promotes cyberbullying, and contributes to an increase in teenage anxiety, depression, and suicide.”

Smartphones have been widely identified as a primary culprit in a range of bad outcomes. For example, colleges report that since the introduction of smartphones, large numbers of students are unprepared for college-level reading.

Excessive screen time: 8 hours per day!

Screen media use by students is excessive. (Yes, that’s a mother speaking.) It has grown dramatically since the pandemic.

Surveys by Common Sense Media reveal the rapid and alarming growth in teens' screen time. More than forty percent of teens spend in excess of 8 hours a day on screens. Yes, this means many kids are spending more time on screen-based entertainment than they spend on sleep! The rates are rising.

Surgeon General warning!

This level of obsession and distraction is unhealthy for anyone, but it's especially bad for kids. In a formal report released in May, 2023, the United States Surgeon General focused especially on the risk of harm that social media inflicts on the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents. This warning is a big deal.

Not one to mince words, Surgeon General Dr. Vivek H. Murthy has called for warning labels on social media platforms. “The mental health crisis among young people is an emergency — and social media has emerged as an important contributor.” He also advised that “schools should ensure that classroom learning and social time are phone-free experiences.”

The more time spent on social media, the higher the risk of self-harm, depression, and lower levels of self-esteem. If you want to dig deeper, the National Library of Medicine has extensive research you can read (when you are not scrolling.)

Measuring the harm of smartphones in schools

Smartphone use in schools is bad for students. A summary report, The Status and Evidence for School Cell Phone Bans, helps count some of the ways:

• Distraction: 75% of high school teachers report that cell phones are a major distraction in the classroom (2018 Pew Research Poll).
• Attention: Students without phones during class write down more information during class.
• Performance: Students who reported being distracted by other students using digital devices scored 15 points lower in PISA tests than those who barely experienced this (PISA 2022)
• Cheating: 30% of students use cell phones to cheat in the classroom (likely an underestimate).
• Loneliness: The presence of cell phones has been linked to increased rates of loneliness within schools; youth reporting loneliness are more likely to drop out of school at the age of 16.”

States scramble to ban cell phones in schools

With the harms so clear, nations and US states are moving quickly to take policy action, at least in schools. KFF.org, a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization focused on health policy, has taken a leading role in gathering state-by-state information about rapidly-changing smartphone policies in schools and their impact. The map below is a snapshot from KFF as of March 5, 2025. (Click it to check KFF for updated data.)

What’s the next step?

Under California law, parents and communities must be involved in the development of smartphone school policies. How do we start?

Luckily, the US Department of Education created a Playbook in 2024 to help communities develop policies. The biggest question to begin with is to decide whether restrictions will be schedule-based or full-day:

Schedule-based: Student device use is prohibited at certain times during the school day (e.g., during instruction) while permitting limited use at other times, such as during breaks or lunch period.

Full-day: Student device use is prohibited during the school day, including during instructional time, lunch or free periods, and passing times.

The table below provides guidance about other major questions that your school needs to grapple with:

Parents and teachers: Here’s where you come in.

It's time to check with your school district to find out how it is developing a policy. This must involve students, parents, and educators in your community.

Ask your school district to ensure there is appropriate outreach to teachers, students, and parents and that opportunities are provided for review of the proposal.

Essential to the success of a school smartphone policy is that parents also implement policies at home. The American Academy of Pediatrics offers advice on how parents can work with their children on Setting Limitations on Tech Time.