The Long Beach Unified School District’s new technology policy will go into effect next week, bringing about a seismic change for a large portion of the city’s population. Even in declining enrollment, the LBUSD student body represents more than 10% of the city’s population. Beginning on Monday, those students will face significant restrictions when it comes to smartphone use.
The new LBUSD policy starts on Monday to open the second semester and will align the city’s schools with new state laws regarding smartphone and electronic use in classes. The new LBUSD policy states that all students from TK-12th grade must have their smartphones, watches, earbuds, headphones and other electronic devices powered off and stored in their backpacks during class time. High school students can still use devices between classes, but elementary and middle school students must have them stored and out of sight from arrival on campus until departure.
While accommodations are made in case of emergency or for medical requirements, the vast majority of students will be subject to the new rules. Not surprisingly, that’s brought a variety of reactions from the high school students we invited to submit their perspectives.
Many acknowledged that phones are a distraction, but also pointed out that they’re often used as part of a class–allowing students to view instructional Youtube videos that are blocked on their school computers, or to listen to music while taking a test.
It’s this generation’s big debate for both parents and educators. Books like the Anxious Generation, which the LBUSD included in their “additional reading” when announcing this ban, have kicked off widespread conversations among parents regarding the effect smartphones and social media are having on children.
Most students said they were in favor of a more nuanced approach, or expressed anxiety about their ability to contact their parents in an emergency. As always, teenagers are navigating the world that older generations built for them–many asked how it made sense to make a society that requires smartphone use for communication, learning, and other vital functions and then take them away from students for large swaths of the day. Others acknowledged the positive benefits of removing distractions from school–other states who have put the ban into place, including New York, have seen increased socialization on campuses.
Responses have been edited for length and clarity
Roselynn Diggs, 11th Grade:
Without phones on desks or in hand, it will become easier to focus on lessons and stay engaged in discussions. However, the policy feels restrictive, especially in a society that relies heavily on phones for daily tasks like communication, navigation, and even scanning menus. This shift feels particularly unrealistic for teenagers when our schools themselves depend on phones to share updates, news, and schedules through apps like Minga. Even so, the rule encourages students to interact more with classmates and concentrate more seriously on their work, creating a more attentive learning environment overall.
Troye Gardner, 12th Grade
I’ve witnessed the effects of excessive phone use during class, and I understand that something needs to be done. But do I agree with this blanket policy? No. The problem isn’t the phone itself—it’s how some students use it. What the district seems to forget is the number of students who aren’t contributing to this issue. What about those who use their phones to complete work when Chromebooks fail or can’t access censored sites? What about parents who gave their kids phones specifically for safety—especially students attending schools in less secure parts of Long Beach?
Here’s the reality: erasing phones won’t magically restore focus. Students determined to distract themselves will find other ways as they always have, long before smartphones existed. Meanwhile, plenty of students will simply ignore the policy, sneaking phones and creating a new enforcement headache. The district is applying a temporary band-aid to a permanent problem while punishing responsible students in the process. If the goal is better classroom engagement, address the behavior directly with those causing disruptions, not the entire student population. This policy targets the wrong people and solves the wrong problem.
So what’s the actual solution? Instead of treating all students like they can’t be trusted, enforce strict consequences for those who actually abuse phone privileges during class. Confiscate phones from repeat offenders, issue detentions, contact parents—hold individuals accountable rather than punishing everyone for the actions of a few. It’s straightforward, it’s enforceable, and it doesn’t strip away a safety tool from students who need it.
Isabella Correa, 11th Grade
A 2025 study from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) concluded that over two-thirds (72%) of public school leaders feel that cell phones have negatively impacted the mental health of their students. However, with phones being collected at the beginning of class and returned at the bell, students will be forced to interact with one another more often. This could help raise the poor mental health conditions caused by cell phones, as JAMA Pediatrics found that face-to-face interactions leads to lower levels of depression and anxiety in adolescents.
Contrastingly, adolescents are revealed to have higher levels of emotional distress when more reliant on socializing on a digital platform. Therefore, the new LBUSD being introduced in the second semester, while possibly viewed reluctantly by many students, could be extremely beneficial to not only academically, but psychologically, as well.
Lorelei Brennan, 12th Grade
I am very conflicted about the phone ban. I use my phone daily for basic things like listening to music while I work, to more important tasks such as contacting my bosses in regard to work and sporting events, and in class I regularly use my phone to research for my art projects. I definitely see the perks of having phones taken away, because I myself do get distracted with getting work done while having my phone in my possession. For safety reasons, I also feel unsure about it.
Sohl Vadecha, 10th Grade
Students are divided. Some believe that the ban will help increase productivity in the classroom, while others believe it won’t garner any real change. As for me, I’m not sure. I can see both sides of the situation. For one, I do think that having phones in classrooms can be negative when used the wrong way. They can distract students and take the focus away from learning. Social media, games, and texting are all examples of some of the distractions cell phones have. Limiting phone use in classrooms could help students concentrate better and create a better learning environment.
However, on the flip side, there are so many useful tools that cellphones have that are incredibly useful in the classroom when used appropriately. They allow quick access to the internet, educational apps, and collaborative tools that can all help foster a better learning environment. Additionally, phones also serve as an emergency communication device. In the event of an emergency, cell phones facilitate direct communication between the student and their parent or guardian. It is with these concerns of safety that many are opposed to the phone ban. It is the need for a balance between minimizing distractions and maintaining safety that makes the phone ban such a heavily debated topic, and why many of us are unsure if banning cellphones is the right move for our district.
Rosa Mallach, 12th Grade
As this statewide phone ban goes into effect many teachers and admin are throwing up their arms in victory; after all, this is the end of students having their phones in class. This is a commonly shared sentiment: a phone ban will end all digital distractions in class, students will finally be able to learn without distractions.
This perceived lack of distractions isn’t a realistic goal. Students have been finding ways to be distracted for as long as school has existed – drawing, zoning out, and talking have been students’ methods for years. It can actually be argued that the more traditional sense of being distracted is more disruptive and disrespectful than phone usage.
Student perspective on the ban is much different: a phone ban is a loss of communication, a loss of freedom. Kids in high school use their phone for much more than sending snaps: phones are the main method of communication between a child and parent. Yes, teenagers can definitely be distracted by their phone while they should be learning, but a complete phone ban tears away their only real way to communicate with anyone other than those in the direct vicinity. With all the gun violence that is prevalent across America, taking away students’ way to communicate with parents seems unwise. There has to be some happy medium between no digital presence in class and screen-addicted teenagers getting their way constantly.
What’s certain is that this phone ban is not that.
David Kagurabadza, 11th Grade
I believe it’s up to both teachers and students to decide how much influence technology like phones has on success in a classroom.
In life, temptations will always be present in some form. Trying to force students to avoid distraction entirely removes the fundamental principle of decision-making. If a student notices that being on their phone during class correlates with a harder time understanding material in the class, they may realize the significance of focusing more on their schoolwork rather than their device. However, by preemptively removing this distraction from students, the lesson will never be learned.
Teachers need to be held accountable for how phones influence their students and the classroom setting as well. While locking away phones is an easy fix to a rampant problem, it shouldn’t need to be implemented for teachers to navigate keeping their students engaged. As a student, I understand my privilege and bias when it comes to my expectations towards teachers, but I still believe there’s some validity to my point. Phones are certainly a prevalent distraction, but I don’t think they’re completely unmanageable for teachers.
I’m a successful student and my friends are successful students as well. From my personal experience, I believe that this policy simply removes responsibility from the hands of students, snatching away their potential to develop maturity, and instead forces key decisions like this upon them.
Contrary to my argument against the policy, I do generally think it’s the right decision. While the phone issue isn’t exactly black and white, I think that LBUSD’s concluded solution was closer to being right than wrong. That being said, it’s still important to realize that the struggle of phones in a classroom is only as large as students and teachers make it to be. The complex problem requires many unique perspectives, ways of thinking, and opinions to create the best possible solution.
Preston Holland, 11th Grade
Within the past five years it’s felt like there’s been a war on phones. I’ve always heard stories on social media of people in school districts slowly banning phones. Phone jails, phone pouches, phone lockers, phone bags, over the past couple of years I’ve heard it all, so seeing these policies come to my district didn’t come as too much of a shock.
Like most other people in my generation, I love my phone, but I don’t need it. I am able to work just fine with my phone on me. Sure I might look at the time or check a text, but like… who cares? If a teacher asks me to put it away, I will, so just leave it up to the teachers. If they want to have a phone jail go ahead, but if phones aren’t a problem in their class why take them away?
Phones are our future whether schools like it or not, so a blanket ban to try and fix this problem doesn’t work. I believe that phones do have a space in schools, used educationally. Schools are supposed to prepare us for the real world, and the real world has phones.
