Starting from July 1st, the “Phone-Free Schools Act” in California will officially come into effect. At that time, public schools will have the right to implement stricter restrictions on students’ use of smartphones during school hours.
The “Phone-Free Schools Act” mentions that there is increasing evidence that unlimited use of smartphones by elementary and middle school students during school hours disrupts the educational mission of schools, lowers students’ academic performance, fuels cyberbullying, and leads to increased anxiety, depression, and suicide among teenagers. Excessive use of smartphones has a significant negative impact on the mental health of adolescents.
California passed the bipartisan-supported “Phone-Free Schools Act” in 2024, aiming to address classroom distractions and cyberbullying issues, requiring every school district, charter school, and county education office in the state to develop policies limiting students’ use of smartphones during school hours by July 1st, 2026.
Although this is a mandatory law, local school district boards still retain the authority to determine the implementation methods and the level of strictness of the restrictions.
It is worth noting that this law includes built-in safety exceptions, so parents do not have to worry about completely losing contact with their children. The new law requires each school district to ensure that when developing restriction policies, they take into account the needs and desires of students, parents, and education workers, and must allow students to use their phones in emergencies, when they perceive a threat, or under other allowed circumstances.
In addition, school district boards must legally review and update the adopted phone policies every five years to ensure they keep pace with changes in student needs and technological developments.
As each school district can establish its own regulations, the level of smartphone restrictions may vary. For example, in the Corona-Norco Unified School District (CNUSD) in Riverside County, students are required to turn off or silence their phones and keep them put away during class.
On the other hand, the San Mateo Union High School District (SMUHSD) in Northern California has announced a comprehensive ban on students using phones during school hours starting from the 2026-27 school year. The school will utilize lock-up systems, using phone storage pouches to securely lock up phones. The district is also finalizing policies to try to prohibit students from using any personal computing devices, including computers, tablets, and smartwatches.
Currently, the Central Unified High School District (CUHSD) prohibits the use of phones during class time, but allows students to use them according to school rules during non-teaching hours, such as lunchtime.
In fact, even before the “Phone-Free Schools Act” took effect, some school districts in California had already begun implementing comprehensive phone bans. The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the second-largest school district in the US, started prohibiting students from using phones, smartwatches, and headphones during class time from 2025.
To further reduce the negative impact of excessive electronic device use, in April of this year, the LAUSD board voted on a new resolution: limiting students’ screen time on campus; banning elementary and middle school students from using electronic devices during breaks, lunch, and between-class activities; prohibiting lower-grade students from using electronic devices on campus and restricting the access to major media platforms on district devices.
It is currently unknown how many school districts will completely ban students from using phones, but similar policies are gradually becoming mainstream. In addition to California, states like Florida, Indiana, and Maine also have laws prohibiting smartphones on school campuses.