Newsom Urges Schools to Restrict Phones in Class. Many Bay Area Campuses Already Do

Class is back in session, and more students might be spending their days phone-free after Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday urged districts to restrict use during school hours.

While multiple bills that could affect phone access in schools are considered in the California Legislature, Newsom told leaders that there is “no reason for schools to wait” to limit smartphone use. More Bay Area schools plan to implement restrictions as the new academic year begins this week, but some advocates say a blanket ban is a bad idea.

“Reducing phone use in class leads to improved concentration, better academic outcomes, and enhanced social interactions,” Newsom said in his letter on Tuesday, adding that schools and districts that have already rolled out no-phone policies have seen “positive impacts,” including higher test scores and less bullying.

Here’s what to know about the efforts so far:

Which Bay Area schools already lock down phones?

San Mateo-Foster City School District began requiring middle school students to put their phones into lockable bags called Yondr pouches during the 2022–23 academic year. The pouch can be unlocked outside the “phone-free area,” according to Yondr’s website.

Without the distraction of messages and social media notifications, students are talking to each other more and paying attention in class, district spokesperson Diego Perez said.

“As a teacher, you see students look down into their backpacks … They’ll look up, down, up, down — they’ll find their way to be able to respond to that text,” he said. “Because of the pouches storing the phones away, leaving them in a backpack, we don’t see that anymore.”

In the San Mateo Union High School District, San Mateo and Peninsula high schools use the same technology so far. Spokesperson Laura Chalkley said the district’s board of trustees “has expressed an interest in exploring expanding the Yondr program, but there has been no formal discussion” yet.

In the East Bay, Mt. Diablo Unified School District is introducing Yondr to two campuses. In April, the district’s board approved the purchase of more than 3,000 pouches for Mt. Diablo and Ygnacio Valley high schools.

Tamalpais Union High School District is also considering the pouches. At a board meeting last week, district officials presented on Yondr after piloting an “expanded cellphone policy which requires all teachers to collect cellphones at the start of every class period” during the spring semester last year, according to its agenda.

A spokesperson for San Francisco Unified said Tuesday that though campuses require phones to be off and put away during class and passing periods, “students may have mobile communication devices on campus as long as the device is utilized in accordance with law, board policy and any rules that individual schools may impose.”

Could a statewide ban be on the way?

Currently, the state does not have any binding phone restrictions that affect campuses, but in June, Newsom said in a statement that he “looks forward to working with the Legislature to restrict the use of smartphones during the school day,” building on a bill he signed in 2019 that permitted districts to regulate phone use.

That month, the California Senate Education Committee unanimously approved Assembly Bill 3216, a bill introduced by Rep. Josh Hoover (R-Folsom), which would “require school districts in California to adopt a policy no later than July 1, 2026, that limits or prohibits the use of smartphones by students during the school day.” Senate Bill 1283, introduced by Sen. Henry Stern (D-Los Angeles), would explicitly allow school districts to “limit or prohibit the use by its pupils of social media.”

Some advocates say a blanket ban on cellphones is a bad idea.

Troy Flint, the chief communications officer for the California School Boards Association, said that there are some “potentially positive uses of cellphone access.”

“For communications with their parents in case of emergency, or to monitor their intake of medications that they’re required to have during the day, or, in case of a disaster, in case of a school shooting and other incidents where it’s been documented that cellphones have been helpful.”

He said the organization is not against limitations but would “vigorously oppose any bill that proposes a blanket mandate and removes that decision-making power about how to restrict cellphones from local communities.”

Aren’t kids always using the Internet in modern classrooms?

There’s also the question of other technology-based learning.

“If kids are using computers three or four classes a day, which are going to have Internet access generally, then what are you accomplishing?” Flint said.

More districts are becoming “one-to-one,” providing students with devices access to electronic devices as a part of their curriculum, including at the San Mateo-Foster City School District.

Perez said that the district distributes Chromebooks on campuses with “layers of security” to ensure they’re used for learning, such as a Lego education program that uses technology to bring the physical brick structures to life.

“While they are using technology in the classroom, they’re engaging, and they’re collaborating. The technology is the tool,” Perez said.

He said minimizing students’ texting, social media use, and other cellphone distractions on campus makes a big impact, especially after spending so much school time on screens during the pandemic.

“Having the ability to minimize those practices and habits on the school grounds helps them to actually engage,” he said. “Then, when you provide a curriculum that brings interest from students, it just makes them want to come to school the following day.”