2nd largest school district to vote on cellphone and social media ban for students
2nd largest school district to vote on cellphone and social media ban for students
If approved, students wouldn't be able to use social media by January 2025.
ByYi-Jin Yu
June 18, 2024, 10:53 AM
The nation's second-largest school district is considering a possible cellphone and social media ban for over 429,000 K-12 students during school days.
The Los Angeles Unified School District is voting on the proposed ban Tuesday morning, one day after U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek H. Murthy called for an immediate warning label on social media platforms in a New York Times op-ed, similar to warnings on cigarette packs mandated by Congress in the 1960s.
A school in Hollywood, Calif., is seen in an undated stock photo.STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images
If approved, the school district would develop and present new cellphone and social media policies within 120 days, or by the fall semester, that would forbid students by the second semester of the 2024-2025 school year from using cellphones and social media policies during the school day. LAUSD, which cited tactics like locked pouches, cellphone lockers or technological means, promised the policies would be "informed by best practices and by input from experts in the field, labor partners, staff, students, and parents."
American Psychological Association issues advisory for teens and social media
Medical experts have joined the chorus of parents, teachers and administrators raising alarm bells in recent years about social media's negative effects on children and adolescents.
Teenage girl and her friends using mobile phones at high school hallway in this undated stock photo.STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images
"The mental health crisis among young people is an emergency -- and social media has emerged as an important contributor," Murthy wrote in his op-ed Monday, adding that teens face higher risks of anxiety and depression and had reported spending an average of nearly five hours a day on social media last summer.
A look at the dangers of social media 'doomscrolling' on young people
Some school districts like the Manchester Public School District in Connecticut already require students to lock cellphones in secure pouches before they are allowed to get them back at the end of the school day.
Editor’s Picks
New York state set to restrict social media
Social psychologist says kids shouldn’t have smartphones before high school
Amid youth mental health concerns, is social media facing a 'tobacco moment'?
In addition to school districts, lawmakers across the country have been considering how to address the mental health of youth. Legislators in New York, for instance, passed a bill earlier this month that would halt social media platforms from showing suggested posts to users under 18.