Is a ban on smartphones in schools coming to South Lake Tahoe and California?

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - School districts across the country are creating no-phone policies on their campuses amid growing concerns for students having lower test scores, mental health challenges, addictive social media habits, an increase in cyberbullying, and exposure to potential sexual predators.

Last week, the Los Angeles Unified School District voted 5-2 to ban cell phones from schools starting in January 2025. In a statement, the trustees cited a ban was "necessary for students’ academic success and well-being,” adding that studies have shown smartphones and social media distract kids from learning and stifle their in-person social connections. The Los Angeles Unified School District is the second largest in the county and serves approximately 625,000 students.

A middle school in Washinton, Ohio banned smartphones from the classroom two years ago, and since then students interact with each other, laughing is back in the classroom. In Dayton, Ohio, the smartphone ban is having the same results in its first year - improvements in reading, math, and social interaction between students.

In the Lake Tahoe Unified School District, South Tahoe Middle School and South Tahoe High School are working on addressing cell phone use at their schools and establishing strategies moving forward. The district-wide policy was last updated in 2020, and states "The Board of Education recognizes that the use of smartphones and other mobile communication devices on campus may be beneficial to student learning and well-being, but could be disruptive of the institutional program in some instances."

The LTUSD ban came about before COVID-19 sent students to study from their homes. The smartphones became their connection when apart from friends, but that addiction to needing to be on their phones didn't end when they returned to the classroom.

Legislation for smartphone bans on school campuses is being considered in ten states, so far. Gov. Gavin Newsom called this week for a statewide ban on smartphone use in California schools, joining the growing national effort to curb cyberbullying and classroom distraction by limiting access to the devices.

"As the Surgeon General affirmed, social media is harming the mental health of our youth. Building on legislation I signed in 2019, 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," said Newsom.

"The hold that phones have on adolescents in America today is well-documented, but teachers say parents are often not aware to what extent students use them inside the classroom," said the Associated Press in a story this winter.

A 2022 Pew Research Center study found that 98 percent of teens between 15-17 and 91 percent of teens between 13-14 have access to a smartphone. In the same study, 46 percent of teens said they’re online almost constantly, with 36 percent confessing they spend too much time on social media.

In the book, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness, author Jonathan Haidt investigates the collapse of youth mental health in the era of smartphones, social media, and big tech. Haidt states that there are four foundational harms in a phone-based childhood:

Social deprivation. Since 2012, the time adolescents spend with friends in face-to-face settings has dropped 50% — and the pandemic only made it worse.

Sleep deprivation. A lack of sleep leads to “depression, anxiety, irritability, cognitive deficits, poor learning, and lower grades” — and long-term studies have proven smartphones are making us sleep worse.

Attention fragmentation. Since our phones are constantly interrupting us, our ability to focus is severely impaired.

Addiction. Many kids are using their phones like dopamine slot machines, always in search of the next hit — and big tech has designed their apps to encourage this behavior.

He also offers solutions in the book, and that "foundational reforms" to these four harms are:

No smartphones before high school. We should give our kids basic, text-and-call-only phones until they are 14 years old.

No social media before 16. When preteens are subjected to endless algorithmically chosen content and comparisons with influencers, it can damage their self-worth permanently.

Phone-free schools. More than just disallowing phones during class, schools should force kids to lock them away altogether. “That is the only way to free up their attention for each other and for their teachers,” Haidt writes.

Far more unsupervised play and childhood independence. Let your kids learn to “develop social skills, overcome anxiety, and become self-governing young adults,” naturally, Haidt suggests. Give them room to try, fail, and learn from it.

(Summary of book is from Four Minute Books)