California Governor Signs Law to Restrict Smartphone Use in Schools

TapTechNews September 25th news, according to Xinhua News Agency, on September 23rd, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law, requiring all public primary and secondary schools in the state to limit or ban the use of smartphones on campus, aiming to address the potential harm to students' mental health and learning caused by excessive use of mobile phones.

Nearly 5.9 million students attend public primary and secondary schools in California. This bill passed overwhelmingly in both the California Senate and Assembly, requiring local education boards or other agencies that manage public schools to formulate relevant guidelines by July 1, 2026, and evaluate and revise the policies every five years.

Newsom said in a statement: 'We know that excessive use of smartphones increases the risk of anxiety, depression and other mental health problems, and we have the ability to intervene. This new law will help students focus on their studies, social development and the world in front of them at school, rather than their (mobile phone) screens.'

Previously, the Los Angeles County Department of Education had taken the lead in introducing a policy banning the use of smartphones on campus in June this year, covering 429,000 public primary and secondary school students in the county. In the same month, Vivek Murthy, the US Surgeon General, citing medical research reports and opinion poll results, suggested that social media platforms issue warnings about related health risks.

According to TapTechNews, a survey by Gallup shows that the average US teenager spends 4.8 hours a day on social media. Research indicates that minors who use social media for more than 3 hours a day will increase the risk of developing mental illness.

According to the Education Week report, since this year, 13 other state governments in the US have ordered the prohibition or limitation of the use of mobile phones on campus, or recommended that local education departments introduce relevant policies. Florida was the first state to legislate a ban on the use of mobile phones in classrooms in 2023.