Starting next week, students in the Los Angeles Unified School District will no longer be able to access their phones during school hours – even during lunchtime or breaks – as a districtwide cellphone ban is set to take effect.
The ban comes months after the LAUSD board voted in June to develop a policy banning students from accessing their cellphones during the school day. The ban, which begins on Feb. 18, will be enforced earlier than the Phone-Free School Act, a state law requiring every school district and charter school to develop policies to limit the use of smartphones by July 2026.
How the policy works
Cellphones, smartwatches, earbuds, and smartglasses are included in the LAUSD ban. All of these devices, including phones without internet access, must also be turned off and stored during school hours.
Schools can implement the ban in a variety of ways, by requiring students to store them in their backpacks or by using portable storage boxes, magnetic or velcro pouches, or classroom phone holders, known as pocket charts, according to an LAUSD presentation.
Theodore Roosevelt Senior High School, for example, is expected to begin using the Yondr pouches in early March. Some LAUSD schools have already had a ban in place for months or even years.
In emergency situations, students will be allowed to use their phones when school staff determines it’s safe to do so. There will also be exceptions for students with health-based needs and other disabilities, as well as for students who are new to the country or who follow an Individualized Education Program.
Steven Valencia, 49, dean of Roosevelt High, understands the ban will bring some resistance.
“I think that for change, there’s always going to be individuals who are going to resist, but overall I think this is a good idea because a lot of students and adults put a lot of time into these phones,” Valencia said. “It’s important for us to use school as a place to learn and not be distracted with these devices.”
Students sound off
Dario Garcia, 17, a junior at Roosevelt High, said the ban could help students improve academically because it’s too easy to get distracted by social media. But, as the person who helps run his school’s social media accounts, Garcia wonders how he’ll continue doing that work without his phone during the school day.
“I now have to … get a camera to record and to take pictures of the activities that we are hosting, and then upload them via MacBook or via Chromebook,” Garcia said.
Garcia and other students are also worried about potential emergency scenarios.
He recalled a lockdown at the school and students calling their parents to let them know they were safe. He wondered how the school would respond, “because we are a lot of students for a very small admin team.”
Shelly Ruiz-Rincon, 16, a junior at James A. Garfield High School, thought about the first day of school when “there was an earthquake and the first thing I did was I called my mom and my brother who was also in the same school with me.”
Aside from that, she thinks the phone ban “will have a very positive impact because it will allow students to focus more on school.”
Jowell Mendez, 16, a student and soccer player at Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez High School, said the ban could help him be more focused on his classwork and on the sport. Without his phone, however, Mendez said he won’t be able to use AI tools like Guath or ChatGPT.
Overall, he said the phone ban is a good idea because “there’s a lot of phone usage in class. It irritates the teachers sometimes.”
To Mendez, the ban can encourage “people to be more social in person.” However, he does propose for students to be allowed to use their phones during passing periods and lunchtime.
‘A major shift,’ RHS dean says
Javier Cid, 58, dean of students for Roosevelt High, said the school will be doing outreach to students and parents about the new policy.
“It’s important to understand this is a district policy, not necessarily my policy [or] Roosevelt’s policy,” Cid said. “The more we promote, the more students understand what is expected.”
He acknowledged the cellphone ban will be a big transition.
“It’s going to be tough for all of us, the people that are enforcing this and the people that have to give up their phone,” he said. “It’s a major shift in the way things have been done for years. People have had phones for the last 25 years.”
Cid said students will be encouraged to put their phones on airplane mode, “so it doesn’t just keep ringing because you’re not gonna be able to answer it.”
“Now, that sounds crazy, right? But that’s how it’s going to be,” Cid said.
“I think it’s important for students to know that I remember a time when we didn’t have phones, and our life was just fine. We studied, we did our work, we all graduated,” Cid added.
A teacher’s perspective
Leticia Carlos, 46, a math teacher at Roosevelt High, said the ban is a good idea because it will enhance focus and participation.
“I can’t wait for this policy to start. I think it’s going to not only increase grades, but I feel like students are going to be more [interactive] among themselves. It’s going to benefit teachers and students in so many different ways,” Carlos said.
In her math classes, Carlos already requires students to place their phones inside wall pouches before class.
“You could notice right away [that] students are more focused. Their participation increases. They’re able to follow along. For the most part, I’ve had many students tell me, ‘Oh, it’s so simple when you pay attention.’ Because obviously they don’t have any distractions,” Carlos said.