Lee Underwood, an Advanced Placement English Literature teacher at Millikan High School, views his classroom as an “attentional sanctuary,” where phones are prohibited.
“Like a wildlife sanctuary protects the endangered animals from violent poachers, so too is my classroom a sanctuary from the attention economy, dead set on poaching the valuable attentional resources of my students,” Underwood said during a presentation at the Long Beach Unified School District’s Feb. 19 board meeting.
Currently, not every teacher has the same guidelines regarding cell phones in LBUSD. Some, like Underwood, don’t allow them in the classroom at all, others allow cell phones only for certain assignments while others have no restrictions around the devices.
Underwood said this lack of consistency can lead to confusion for students on how they can and can’t use their phones. He said teachers are looking for a coherent unified strategy — something that will soon be a reality, as LBUSD is currently in the process of creating a cell phone policy and social media awareness plan.
Developing a policy is a response to a bill passed by Governor Gavin Newsom last year. Assembly Bill 3216 expands existing law by requiring, rather than allowing, schools to develop and adopt a smartphone policy. The policy has to be revised every five years, and emphasize evidence-based use of smartphone practices to support student learning.
However, by law, there are some limitations as students can’t be prohibited from using their phones:
- In the case of an emergency or in response to a perceived threat of danger
- When a teacher or administrator of the school grants permission
- When a licensed physician determines that a phone is necessary for the health or well-being of the student
- If it’s necessary as part of an Individualized Education Plan.
Other districts have already put into effect their own bans, like Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) whose cell phone ban went into effect early February. LAUSD is leaving the implementation up to each individual school.
Program Administrator of District Communications Christopher Itson said LBUSD is unique in that it will not only be creating a cell phone policy, but will also be incorporating social media safety. While the policy creation is the law-mandated component, Itson said it is also important for the district to educate students on proper social media use.
“We want to be explicit about drawing out what the behavior expectations are for our kids, what are the supports for our staff to ensure that all of our kids are safe with this technology running so rampant,” Itson said.
Itson said the district is being intentional about not rushing the development process, but instead taking the time to do preliminary research and ensure they are taking into consideration community input.
“The Governor’s bill was very vague, no plan, and several schools jumped on it, and they said, ‘Let’s do a cell phone ban,’” Itson said. “And that terrified me because that’s not going to build the support, the education, the resources, the strategic planning to do something that’s effective in making a really effective policy.”
Itson said a volunteer social media safety work group was created consisting of principals from each level, teachers, students, parents and different support offices, like restorative justice and school safety. He said representatives meet once a month on Zoom to walk through the development process.
Not rushing into it
The remainder of the academic year will be spent on internal and external research, gathering data and engaging the community. Itson said they will also be releasing surveys in multiple languages to survey how students feel and will be surveying teachers to see what’s working for them and what’s not.
The goal is to have a drafted policy ready for board approval by July. Itson emphasized that the district has no intention to implement the policy overnight once it’s passed.
Instead, the focus of the fall 2025 semester will be to launch an education campaign to inform parents and students about the changes and the reasoning behind them. Part of the education campaign also includes a countdown leading up to the day the policy will be implemented, which would not be until the spring 2026 semester.
Throughout 2026-2029, the district will continue monitoring progress to see what additional support might be needed and how the policy can adapt.
However, as the district becomes more technology-driven, and recalling previous efforts to bridge the digital divide among the most vulnerable students, Board Member Juan Benitez points out that for many communities, a cell phone is the only technological device they have access to.
“If we don’t use our phones, and I’m talking about my communities here, we’re out. We’re completely disengaged, because that is the main platform for engagement right now,” Benitez said.
According to a 2024 Pew Research survey, most teens think the benefits of smartphones outweigh the harms — seven in 10 teens say smartphones provide more benefits than harms for people their age.
Student board member Alana Arroyo underscored the importance of explaining to students the reasoning behind a cell phone policy and being upfront about the negative impacts of technology use.
“If [students] are to go along with this, and for it to really be beneficial to them, they need to understand why it’s being done and how it can benefit them,” Arroyo said.
