Just as California schools are beginning to welcome their students back from summer vacation, Governor Gavin Newsom has been urging an immediate and severe restriction of cell phone use in classrooms and on campus from all schools in the state. This call to action is not new. In 2019, Newsom signed AB 272 into law, which granted school districts the authority to regulate the use of smartphones in and during school hours, and since then has been building on this legislation.
Sacramento – On Tuesday, August 13, 2024, Governor Newsom sent a letter to California school districts reminding educators of the mental health and social risks, as well as academic harm, that can result from smartphone usage within an educational setting.
(A copy of his claims are stated in this article)
Newsom’s decision, amid the Biden administration’s warning of the harms of social media, came a mere day after Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy cautioned in the New York Times that social media posed such a great threat to children that Congress should require apps such as Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat etc. to come with “warning labels similar to those of cigarettes and alcohol” (POLITICO). California’s Governor’s actions also led him to join a fierce political rival, Florida’s Republican Governor (DeSantis), whose state passed their ban on students utilizing cell phones during class hours last year.
Newsom claimed in a statement, “As the Surgeon General affirmed, social media is harming the mental health of our youth. I look forward to working with the Legislature to restrict the use of smartphones during the school day. When children and teens are in school, they should be focused on their studies — not their screens.”
“Over the years, social media companies have purposely designed their platforms to addict users to increase profits,” State Senator Nancy Skinner stated in an article. “And research has linked social media addiction among youth with higher rates of depression, anxiety, lack of sleep, and low self-esteem.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have also reported that children in the U.S. spend between 6-14 hours per day in front of a screen, the majority of that time engaging with and viewing social media content. This tremendous issue has continued to evolve with young teens in recent years due to algorithms intentionally made to suck viewers in on the platforms students are continuously exposed to.
According to a documentary known as, The Social Dilemma, social media algorithms are as “addictive as drugs.” An impactful quote from the film was that our society curates “our lives around the perceived sense of perfection because we get rewarded in these short term signals; hearts, likes, thumbs up and we conflate it with the truth. And instead, what it is is fake brittle popularity that’s short term and that leaves you even more, and admit it, vacant and empty before you did it. Because that enforces you into a vicious cycle where you’re like what’s the next thing that I need to do now, because I need it back” (Chamath Palihapitiya, CEO of Social Capital). This quote is just one example of how social media intentionally keeps people scrolling. This creates a similar effect to that of nicotine by causing dopamine to be released in the brain, causing you to be happy and crave more.
Not only do studies show that social media can have dire mental health consequences, but it was also proven that it significantly makes a difference in students academic performance and participation. Many teachers and administrators have noticed that students’ scholastic conduct has been increasingly negatively impacted by the distractions from content and notifications on their phones. According to Pew Research Center, 72% of high school and 33% of middle school teachers reported cell phone distractions as a major problem. Clark Conover, our Principal here at GHS, stated in an interview, “I think they can hurt [students in an educational setting] if they become a distraction, with kids looking at their social media, texting, and everything else. But I think they can help in the fact that it can be a great tool. Kids can look things up, they can reference it, and teachers have used it for things like kahoots etc.” On the other hand, Mr. Conover also claims that “social media is very powerful… I think that sometimes kids see what people on social media have, and it can lead to unrealistic expectations, jealousy, and standards… and that can be very distracting.”
While it is true that these devices are extremely addicting, especially for growing minds, and can discourage students to be fully immersed, motivated, and engaged in and with their learning, their benefits are also notable. Newsom stated in his letter that he hopes that by, “Working together, educators, administrators, and parents can create an environment where students are fully engaged in their education, free from the distractions on the phones and pressures of social media.”
However, progress can be challenging. Students tend to find ways to bend the rules by hiding phones in their laps underneath their desks, or by “going to the bathroom” an unusual amount of times. Some bans have already been put in place in various schools, but are not as well enforced as they should be. Even though smartphones have been labeled as huge distractions by many educators, some parents have already expressed push-back and concerns over complete bans, which would cut them off from contact with their kids if there happens to be an emergency. Mr. Conover voiced his opinion on Gavin Newsom’s solution by saying, “I don’t know if a straight up ban is the right answer because they are pretty powerful instruments. We are even using them now for ID cards… But when the teacher says ‘hey put your phones away’ then they should not be used.”
Ultimately, California State Legislatures passed the Assembly Bill 3216, which was introduced in February and renamed the Phone-Free School Act. It requires that every school district, charter school and county office of education develop a policy limiting the use of smartphones by July 1, 2026. At least five other states including Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, South Carolina and Ohio also have similar laws in place.
These restrictions are spreading fast and popping up in more school districts in the area. The Los Angeles Unified School District has already made moves to crack down on this act, becoming the largest district so far to do so as of two months ago. As an example of the ban’s impact, Christensen Middle School in Livermore already has strict zero-tolerance phone policies recently instituted due to this change. Teachers are instructed to remove any visible smartphones within the classroom and students are expected to keep phones off and completely out of sight during school hours unless instructed to do otherwise by a teacher or faculty member.
However, after asking Mr. Conover if any changes to our phone policies at Granada have occurred, he reassured that, “No, so there’s nothing yet in place, and if we did something it would be district-wide policy. Right now our district policy is basically classroom management, so if the phone becomes a distraction, teachers can tell them to put it away.” According to the Board Policy Manual, our current phone policy is thus; ‘The Board of Education recognizes that student use of cell phones and other personal electronic communication devices on campus may be necessary for health and safety reasons and to ensure a means of communication between the student and the student’s parent/guardian. The Board also supports the use of technology as an instructional tool, and recognizes the potential value of personal electronic communication devices to enhance a student’s learning. The use of electronic communication devices on campus is permitted on a restricted basis in the regulation.’ So, as of right now, GHS students can rest easy with the knowledge that the ban has not reached our school yet, and if a change to our district phone rules were to be implemented, it shouldn’t be anytime soon.
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