September 23rd, Governor Gavin Newsom signed the Phone-Free School Act (Assembly Bill 3216). This requires every school district, charter school, and county office of education in California to adopt a policy limiting or prohibiting child smartphone use in school by July 1, 2026. Authored by Assemblymembers Josh Hoover, David Alvarez, Josh Lowenthal, and Al Muratsuchi, this bipartisan legislation is intended to reduce the digital injuries resulting from in-school smartphone use, including harm to academic and social success and overall mental health.
California is not alone. As of October 3, 2024, eight states, including California, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Ohio, South Carolina, and Virginia, have passed policies to ban or limit child smartphone use in schools. Many of these policies also call for schools to implement content blocking, social media readiness training, and a digital literacy curriculum that specifically addresses issues like spreading misinformation. Most also allow for exceptions due to emergency, medical, or educational necessity (e.g., learning accommodations) or with teacher permission.
Bipartisan Support & Health Advisory Recommendations
Screen safety policies have received widespread bipartisan support, with the Biden-Harris administration continuing to promote child online safety. The U.S. Surgeon General has also been outspoken in response to America’s youth mental crisis, illustrated by the CDC’s 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. UNESCO has called for limits on cellphone use in schools globally, and the American Psychological Association released a health advisory on social media use in adolescence in April of 2023 with specific recommendations based on the psychological evidence.
What Schools Are Saying About Their Initial Efforts
Many California schools are already embracing change by adopting smartphone-free classrooms. For example, Nordhoff Junior High and High School recently invited Dr. Tracy Bennett, Psychologist, Screen Safety Expert, and Founder of GetKidsInternetSafe, to speak to their students in preparation for these changes. We interviewed Beth Burke, LCSW Mental Health Clinician/Clinical Supervisor at Nordhoff about their experience implementing the new policy.
What was your final policy?
7th and 8th graders are not allowed smartphones at any time, even during lunch and breaks. Cell phone hotels hold phones during class and in backpacks outside of class. Use is only allowed for pickups and in case of emergency.
9th through 12th graders put their phones in a cell phone hotel during class. This is a big change. They can have them out during snack time and lunch.
There’s some discipline on the junior high level here and there. We have a first through fourth offence system. 1) take it away, 2) take away and parent contact and lose citizenship points. 3) has to be picked up by the parent. 4) need a behavior contract.
What factors led you to this policy?
Our teachers approached the administration for help with the cell phone use in and out of class. Research is also showing more and more that smartphones are very distracting. We read about other schools doing this and how it was doing well. As a faculty, we discussed the policy specifics and gained consensus that we wanted to implement this schoolwide. Last year was our first year with 7th and 8th graders on campus, and it was even more distracting for them. Parents in the community were glad about it. When it was announced at the parent orientation there were cheers.
What preparations did you make?
Our principal sent out parent square messaging during the summer citing some research so they could get ahead of it.
What opposition did you face?
A few parents expressed concern about emergencies. They were afraid in case of mass shootings. One or two students with IEPs due to anxiety wanted to keep their phones to text when they became anxious. We offered to let them keep it in their backpack because they will need it if they leave the classroom. That was in line with the policy so that was ok.
What are your first impressions?
I want to do a survey. Anecdotally, the kids are saying that they’re feeling less distracted and like being able to focus. I’m not hearing a lot of negatives, especially for the 7th and 8th graders. They all want to be the same. An overall policy is like a school uniform. It works! They don’t want to be the one and only kid calling mom. Teachers like it better. At first, they were like, “Do we have to do one more thing?” But they’re noticing less distraction. There is definitely more positive than negative.
Any tips on how to do this successfully?
It’s gone better than we expected. We expected more parent and student pushback and drama. Having all teachers enforce the policy made it easier since the old policy was not uniformly enforced or supported. But it’s good! It’s good for them to not have that distraction in the classroom and on campus for the 7th and 8thgraders. It can be a true addiction, and the more they can focus on school and interactions with one another the better. School is hopefully one place they can come to focus on learning and interacting with one another face-to-face.
GetKidsInternetSafe Offers Screen Safety Tools for Kids, Families, and Professionals
In partnership with Tarzana Treatment Centers, we are also launching our Screen Safety Certification Course. This online course offers 20 continuing education units and helps prepare paraprofessionals and professionals to expertly work with families and youth for better screen safety. Thanks to input from Caitlin McCranie, Honors English Teacher at Oak Park High School, we offer a student survey to GKIS certification students to help them get their youth ready for smartphone-free classrooms.
A special thank you to our hard-working mental health professionals and teachers who are on the front lines fighting for child wellness. We are especially grateful to Beth Burke and Caitlin McCranie for helping us with the information included in this article.
I’m the mom psychologist who will help you GetKidsInternetSafe.
The CDC recently released its Youth Risk Behavior Survey reporting that an alarmingly high percentage of American teens, particularly girls and LGBQ+ youth, are suffering from distressing mental health symptoms. With stressors like isolation from the COVID-19 lockdowns, too much screen use, frightening news reports, increasing college pressures, increasing financial strains on families, and the compare and despair dynamics that arise from social media, kids are feeling the pressure. Child experts and advocates have called for the Biden administration to declare a youth mental health emergency and are begging schools to adopt better trauma-informed health and sex education. What are the contributors, and how can we help?
The Highlights
The CDC report data comes from 17,000 U.S. high school students who were surveyed in the fall of 2021 when most schools returned to in-person teaching. The good news is that overall sexual activity, substance abuse, and in-school bullying are down. The bad news is that teen safety concerns due to violence, sadness, hopelessness, and suicidality are up, especially among girls and LGBQ+ students (trans students were not identified for this survey).
Here is the Summary of Findings from The Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data Summary & Trends Report: 2011–2021
Sexual Behavior
Substance Abuse
Experiencing Violence
Mental Health and Suicidality
Parental Monitoring
Teen Girls
The survey suggests that nearly 3 in 5 (57%) U.S. teen girls felt so sad or hopeless that they couldn’t engage in regular activities for two weeks or more. Nearly 1 in 3 (30%) seriously considered attempting suicide—up nearly 60% from a decade ago. And 1 in 5 (18%) experienced sexual violence in the past year—up 20% since 2017.
LGBQ+ Youth
Almost 70% of LGBQ+ students said they felt persistently sad or hopeless, and 20% reported attempting suicide. Fifty-two percent of LGBQ+ teens had poor mental health symptoms in the past 30 days compared to 29% of all teens.
Possible Contributors?
It’s important to consider that the survey occurred at the end of the isolation from COVID-19. Although I am still
seeing significant fallout among kids, tweens, and teens, they have recovered somewhat from that dark and frightening time.
We must also consider that this is a survey. Without experiments where we expose one group of teens to possible causal variables (e.g., social media or isolation) and don’t expose a control group, we can’t determine what is causing the distress.
Surveys simply state and analyze subject report. It’s impossible to tell the causes from this type of data. We are left to guess with our observations and experience, forming hypotheses and looking for evidence to support them. As the Founder of GetKidsInternetSafe, a mother, university faculty member, author, and clinician who has treated kids, teens, and families for over 25 years, I have some ideas.
PHONELY: Our kids are phonely. Because we were hunters and gatherers for 90% of human existence, our brains are wired to thrive with face-to-face tribalism. Online relationships just don’t do it for us long-term.
ISOLATION: With the isolation of COVID-19, kids lost friends and confidence and regressed in their social skills.
SOCIAL MEDIA: Social media and the internet offers a constant onslaught of online ads and marketing influencers for kids and teens. This unfiltered exposure can lead to chronic fears of being judged and ridiculed as well as feelings of inadequacy and exclusion. The CDC report demonstrates that there is an epidemic of online bullying and cybersexual violence, especially toward girls and LGBTQ youth.
PARENTING: Parenting strategies have become overly protective based on anxiety and fear resulting in less child independence and more fear of failure. Plus, they spend more time online than with us. It is difficult for parents to overcome the influence of strangers and taking away all screen activities has become nearly impossible.
NEWS: Sensational and divisive news expertly and manipulatively communicates fear-inducing trends like mass shootings, climate change, and inflation. This has got most of us rattled, especially the most vulnerable among us.
FINGER-POINTING: We have tolerated and participated in an ugly, divisive climate of entitlement, bullying, and blame rather than accountability and positive action.
GROUP-THINK: The internet speaks the language of mental health – but this may result in a group-think phenomenon of looping on mental health suffering instead of increasing agency and growth.
LACK OF APPLICABLE EDUCATION: Trauma-informed, evidence-based health and sex education isn’t being offered equitably among out schools. Parents don’t want to leave this important job to schools, but they’re also not doing a great job themselves in many instances.
NOT ENOUGH MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES: There aren’t enough mental health services available to our youth.
LACK OF FAITH AND COMMUNITY: Pulling together as a loving, cooperative team is critical for kids to feel a sense of belonging and community. As our families get smaller and we have fewer extended family to offer support, our kids are left to fend for themselves.
Of course, this is not an exhaustive list. But it does summarize much of the research findings and conjecture that has surrounded these issues. There are more ideas for the list. But for the purpose of solving the problem, how can we take these stressors into consideration as we discuss possible solutions?
Considering the complexity of the question, what can we do to improve the situation? Reverse Engineer!
Reverse engineering refers to the process of looking at possible outcomes (like the causes posited above) and slowly working backward for a solution. Although this is clearly a messy mission, I watch kids regain the mental health ground they lost every day in practice. Despite what some may think, effective psychotherapy isn’t simply listening and reflecting feelings of despair. As a cognitive-behavioral therapist, I employ techniques specifically designed to facilitate positive movement forward. I’ve found that, if I set the tone and get everybody started, parents can take it from there.
Here are some tips for improving mental health and well-being at home:
As a family, negotiate a set of measurable goals and revisit them often for direction and motivation. Praise and reward movement forward and maintain and warm and encouraging tone along the way.
Use storytelling and a sense of humor to normalize failure and encourage curiosity and confidence.
Turn off the news and divisive influencers who are selling toxic ideas and products.
Reassure kids that they are capable and loved and that grit is what matters the most, far more than being attractive or innate skills.
Encourage kids to detox off their phones occasionally and engage more in real-life exploration and socialization.
Stay moderate. Avoid shaming lectures and demoralizing consequences.
Offer mindfulness, problem-solving, and communication strategies to help kids gain independence and confidence.
Offer outcome- and science-based education that empowers informed action rather than create fear.
Support parents in not personalizing child behaviors and help them set fair and reasonable limits with warmth, encouragement, and love.
Lead our kids toward post-traumatic growth rather than feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, and fear with expert mentorship, fun, and opportunity.
How can GetKidsInternetSafe help?
I founded GetKidsInternetSafe so I could be part of the prevention effort – rather than just the treatment effort. If you’re not sure where to get started, we have a comprehensive suite of tools for parents, tweens and teens, educators, paraprofessionals, and professionals who work with families and kids.
Dr. Bennett’s book, Screen Time in the Mean Time, is a comprehensive and easy-to-read parenting guide for families with kids of all ages. Available on Amazon in print, e-book, and audible!
Tighten up parental controls and monitoring with the help of our GKIS Screen Safety Toolkit. This toolkit helps to empower parents and provides them with a resource list of smart tech tools to filter, monitor, and manage online behavior.
For families with younger kids, our home setup Connected Family Course is an awesome place to start.
To help your tween or teen get prepared for safer internet use and social media, help prevent digital injury, and optimize wellness, check out our most popular course, the Social Media Readiness Course.
Want to work for screen safety as a community? We’ve thought of that too! Dr. Bennett offers live presentations and webinars for adults and kids from schools, churches, corporations, and conferences.
If you want all of our supplements and courses at a low cost for parents and kids, tweens, and teens, you’ll want our mega Screen Safety Essentials Course! This online course offers a set of four modules that will help you walk your kids through the essentials of screen safety.
I’m the mom psychologist who will help you GetKidsInternetSafe.
