America’s second-largest school district to ban cellphones and social media

America’s second-largest school district has voted to ban cell phones and social media for its 429,000 elementary school students during school hours.

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) board of trustees passed the stunning measure to ban the devices at school in a 5-2 vote on Tuesday.

This is a doubling from their last policy revision in 2011, when the school district decided to ban students from using cell phones during classes and limit social media use in school to “educational purposes.”

The new drastic policy change will be effectively implemented in the 2025 school year. LAUSD now faces the task of developing updated policies within 120 days.

Suggested measures include locked bags, cell phone lockers or technological solutions to enforce the ban.

Board member and sponsor of the ban, Nick Melvoin, told CNN that students’ addiction to their phones has affected their ability to socialize, which has affected their mental health and academic success

The policy would be “informed by best practices and input from experts in the field, employment partners, staff, students and parents,” the school said.

The drastic policy revision also aims to accommodate students who use phones for translations and also aims to evaluate the impact of social media on young people.

Board member and sponsor of the ban, Nick Melvoin, said students’ addiction to their phones has affected their ability to socialize, which has affected their mental health and academic success.

“Our students are glued to their cell phones, just like adults,” Melvoin said.

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) board voted 5-2 on Tuesday to ban the use of cellphones and social media at school.

‘They secretly scroll through the school during class. They walk through the hallways with their heads in their hands. They don’t talk to each other or play during lunch or recess because they have their AirPods in.”

The resolution, co-sponsored by board chair Jackie Goldberg, board member Kelly Gonez and board member Tanya Ortiz Franklin, calls for the development of a comprehensive policy to enforce the ban.

Goldberg said cell phone use has “gotten out of hand.”

“It’s gotten to the point where students no longer talk face-to-face, but text each other when they’re sitting next to each other,” says Goldberg.

‘Research tells us what we already know: excessive use of mobile phones affects the mental health and academic performance of students. It is time to update our policy and make it a district-wide responsibility,” she added.

The resolution, co-sponsored by board chair Jackie Goldberg, board member Kelly Gonez and board member Tanya Ortiz Franklin, calls for the development of a comprehensive policy to enforce the ban. In the photo: Chief Inspector Albert Carvalho

Board member and sponsor of the ban, Nick Melvoin, said students’ addiction to their phones has affected their ability to socialize, which has affected their mental health and academic success

Gonez said the negative consequences of cell phone use among adolescents, and especially the addictive properties of social media, are “becoming increasingly apparent.”

“It is important that we take proactive steps to address these challenges when students are in our care, and updating our cell phone policy will ensure we can focus on learning during the school day,” Gonez said.

Franklin said it breaks his heart when he visits campuses at lunch to “see students sitting alone, isolated on their phones instead of collaborating and learning with their peers.”

“A study into the harmful effects of mobile phones and their excessive use should take place much earlier,” says Rivas.

‘It is important for the Board of Education to balance many interests – including promoting distraction-free learning environments, minimizing the uneven implementation of school policies, and maintaining some flexibility and resources for our schools to address their local interests and issues to deal with.’

This comes just one day after US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek H. Murthy called on social media platforms to enforce an immediate warning label – similar to cigarette pack warnings mandated by Congress in the 1960s.

Nearly three-quarters, or 72 percent, of high school teachers say cell phone distraction is “a major problem in the classroom,” according to Pew Research Center report last week.

This comes just one day after US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek H. Murthy called on social media platforms to enforce an immediate warning label – similar to cigarette pack warnings mandated by Congress in the 1960s.

“The youth mental health crisis is an emergency – and social media has emerged as a major contributor,” Murthy wrote in a New York Times opinion Monday.