New legislation signed last week by Gov. Gavin Newsom makes it mandatory to ban or limit cell phone use during school hours beginning in the 2026 academic year. It was authored by Sacramento-area Republican Assemblyman Josh Hoover.
“We know that excessive smartphone use increases anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues – but we have the power to intervene,” Newsom said in a press release announcing his signature. “This new law will help students focus on academics, social development, and the world in front of them, not their screens, when they’re in school.”
Opinion
Though I am steadily creeping up on my 20-year high school reunion, I still have distinct memories of hiding my cell phone from my teachers so that I could text and play games on it in class. Everyone had a phone while I was in school, even back in the early 2000s, and I’m told by my friends who are teachers that it’s only gotten worse.
According to EdSource, in some schools, students “are required to put their phones in an electronic pouch that can only be unlocked by school staff with a special magnet.” In other schools, students leave their cell phones in lockers or are asked to turn off their phones during class time.
The only problem with banning cell phones for teens during schools hours, is that — in case of an emergency like a school shooting — students would not have access to communication with the outside world or their families.
But that concern speaks to a greater need to end the scourge of school shootings than to keep cell phones with students at all times. We know from the data that constant cell phone use causes serious mental health concerns like anxiety and depression. Besides, the new law grants an exception during an emergency or perceived threat, or when a teacher grants permission.
An unwilling social experiment
My pink Razr flip phone certainly distracted me from school, and my iPhone continues to distract me to this day. The truth is that I’m addicted to it: I average about eight hours a day, according to a weekly reminder that comes in the form of a bleak notification on Sunday mornings.
I wish someone had taken the phone out of my hands as a child — at least for a few hours — before I seemingly lost the ability to be without it.
According to a survey done by Pew Research a few years ago, almost all Millennials (nearly 100%) said they use the internet, and 19% of them are smartphone-only internet users — which is to say, they own a smartphone but do not have broadband internet service at home. MIllennials are often described as “digital natives” who grew up in a constantly-changing world and are therefore incredibly adaptable to new technologies, while Gen Z has never known a world without them.
Having the internet at our fingertips for most of our lives has made Millennials highly useful in the workplace but has also led to increased levels of anxiety, depression and other mental health issues.
In a recent New York Times op-ed by U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy last June, Murthy called for warning labels on social media platforms, like those on cigarette containers.
The Surgeon General said that “Adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of anxiety and depression symptoms, and the average daily use in this age group, as of the summer of 2023, was 4.8 hours.”
“A surgeon general’s warning label, which requires congressional action, would regularly remind parents and adolescents that social media has not been proved safe.”
As I write this column, I’ve checked my phone countless times. I just can’t help myself. So if California can, even for a short while, try to ban cell phones from our schools, then it’s a worthwhile attempt to stem the anxiety, depression and addiction to our phones that plagues Millennials. After all, that’s what new laws are supposed to do, right? Make life better for new generations, through the experiences of the old.
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