California Governor Gavin Newsom has pledged to \u201cget smartphones out of schools.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI 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 \u2014 not their screens,\u201d he said in a\u00a0statement\u00a0on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Newsom plans to work with the California legislature to pass those restrictions by August,\u00a0Politico\u00a0first reported. That would put California in line with other states that already have strict limits on smartphone use in schools. The move could also be particularly meaningful in California, the nation\u2019s most populous state and home to Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey should be focused on their studies \u2014 not their screens.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Momentum is growing across the nation to protect kids from potential harms associated with smartphones and social media \u2014 from\u00a0cyber bullying\u00a0to\u00a0body image\u00a0issues. Schools have been battlegrounds for the issue, with\u00a0concerns\u00a0rising over distracted students using their phones during class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2019, Newsom signed\u00a0legislation\u00a0that authorizes school districts to limit or completely prohibit students from using smartphones while in school. Newsom aims to go further with new legislation that would establish statewide limits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Newsom also\u00a0signed\u00a0a law\u00a0in 2022\u00a0that pushes social media companies to increase protections for underage users, including limiting how much data from young people they collect and sell. Last year, he wrote a\u00a0letter\u00a0to urging the tech industry to drop a lawsuit challenging that legislation. \u201cIt is time for the tech industry to stop standing in the way of important protections for our kids and teens, and to start working with us to keep our kids safe,\u201d he\u00a0wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The governor\u2019s new call to action on Tuesday follows the US Surgeon General\u2019s\u00a0plea\u00a0to Congress on Monday to institute warning labels on social media platforms. \u201cIt is time to require a surgeon general\u2019s warning label on social media platforms, stating that social media is associated with significant mental health harms for adolescents,\u201d Vivek H. Murthy wrote in a guest essay\u00a0in\u00a0The New York Times<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While Congress is in gridlock, states and school districts have taken their own action.\u00a0Florida\u00a0and\u00a0Indiana\u00a0already have laws restricting smartphone use. Yesterday, the Los Angeles Unified School District board\u00a0voted\u00a0to craft policies to prohibit students from using cell phones and social media throughout the entire school day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
California Governor Gavin Newsom has pledged to \u201cget smartphones out of schools.\u201d \u201cI 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 \u2014 not their screens,\u201d he said in a\u00a0statement\u00a0on Tuesday. Newsom plans […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":7064,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[188],"tags":[9,155],"class_list":{"0":"post-7063","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tech","8":"tag-news","9":"tag-technology"},"yoast_head":"\n