Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) is preparing a crackdown on cellphones in the classroom, saying he wants to work with the state legislature to pass restrictions before its session ends in August.
“As the surgeon general affirmed, social media is harming the mental health of our youth,” Newsom told the Washington Examiner in a statement Tuesday.
“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.”
The governor’s office said there are a number of proposals moving forward in the state legislature that Newsom hopes to negotiate before the start of the next school year.
The announcement follows legislation Newsom signed into law in 2019 that authorized districts to adopt cellphone bans.
According to the Pew Research Center, 72% of high school teachers and 33% of middle school teachers across the country say cellphone distractions are a major problem. Additionally, a Common Sense Media study found that 97% of students used their phones during the school day for a median of 43 minutes.
California’s efforts to build phone-free classrooms come after both Indiana and Florida banned cellphones during class time.
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Oklahoma, Washington, Kansas, Vermont, Connecticut, Virginia, Tennessee, Louisiana, and South Carolina are working similar bills through their state legislatures. In April, Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-AZ) vetoed a bill that would have limited cellphone use in the classroom. She said the bill wasn’t necessary because districts already have the authority to institute the policy.
In 2022, Newsom implemented some of the strictest technology privacy requirements for children in the United States. Critics called the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act an attack on the First Amendment and free speech that was “so vaguely and broadly written that it will almost certainly lead to widespread use of invasive age verification techniques that subject children (and everyone else) to more surveillance while claiming to protect their privacy.” Newsom said the bill was to protect the “health and well-being” of children.