Bill to Require Public Schools To Ban, Limit Smartphones During School Day Passes Assembly

A bill that would require all California public schools to come up with policies to either ban or limit smartphone usage during the school day passed the Assembly in a unanimous 77-0 vote earlier this week, bringing the bill to the desk of Governor Gavin Newsom.

Assembly Bill 3216, authored by Assemblyman Josh Hoover (R-Folsom), would specifically require the governing body of a school district, a county office of education, or a charter school to, by July 1, 2026, develop and adopt, and to update every 5 years, a policy to limit or prohibit the use by its pupils of smartphones while the pupils are at a school site or while the pupils are under the supervision and control of an employee or employees of that school district, county office of education, or charter school.

The bill, also known as the Phone-Free Schools Act, comes in the wake of both local school district smartphone bans across the state, as well as growing state and federal worries over student usage of smartphones during school hours. For years, cell phones in schools have been a growing issue. While some districts have allowed cell phones to be allowed in school as long as they are turned off and not being used during class in case of emergencies or needed communication with parents, a growing number have been  putting in bans due to the number of problems that cell phones, specifically smart phones, bring. This includes cell phones being a major distraction, the phones being used to cheat, mental health issues associated with social media, poor school performance, and the safety issue being boomeranged around back at being negative because of cyberbullying and other similar issues. 72% of all high school teachers in the country have even called cell phones being used in class a major problem in the class room.

As a result many states and districts have instituted school hour bans on using cell phones. Currently, 3 states have passed statewide bans of some sort, with more than a dozen others currently considering such bans. In addition, nearly 80% of school districts have some sort of ban or limitations of cell phone usage in place. Since the bill was introduced earlier this year, Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy has issued warnings about smartphone usage causing negative mental health effects on teenagers, Governor Gavin Newsom has pushed for a statewide restriction on cell phone usage by students during the day, and many school districts, including the Los Angeles Unified School District, have instituted bans on the phones to be in place in the next few years.

“Every classroom should be a place of focus, learning, and growth,” said Newsom earlier this month. “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.”

In the midst of all this, AB 3216 has been growing in steam. The bill quickly garnered support and passed unanimously or near unanimously in every committee and floor vote through the year. This included a 69-0 Assembly vote in May. However, with support for the bill now coming from both parties and every level of government, support only increased. This week, it passed 38-1 in the Senate, and on Wednesday, 77-0 in the Assembly.

Our #PhoneFreeSchoolsAct just passed the Legislature and is now headed to Governor Newsom’s desk. Thank you to joint authors @AsmMuratsuchi, @AsmLowenthal, and @AsmDavidAlvarez for your extraordinary leadership on this issue to support California students.

— Josh Hoover (@joshua_hoover) August 29, 2024

“We’re Democrats and Republicans, but what we all have in common is we’re all parents, and we’ve all seen this firsthand,” said Hoover after the passage of the bill. “I strongly believe that this is an area of statewide concern.”

The bill will now go before Governor Newsom, who is widely expected to sign the bill into law.

“Newsom has been talking up public school cell phone bans for months,” explained “Dana,” a Capitol staffer, to the Globe on Thursday. “Well, he has talked the talk. And this bill will see if he can walk the walk. I mean it is bipartisan with support from school districts and education experts. Pretty much the only people who oppose this bill are teenagers. It would be very unusual if Newsom vetoes it. Unless of course he has his own plans, but even then, vetoing a bipartisan supported bill with overwhelming support at no taxpayer cost will bring about a very tough to write veto letter.

“But yeah, he’ll sign it.”

Newsom will have until September 30th to sign AB 3216 into law.