California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, announced Tuesday he would pledge to limit students’ smartphone use during school hours, pointing to statements by the Biden administration that social media is harmful to children’s mental health.
The decision comes after U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called on Congress to require social media platforms to require warning labels about their effects on young people, similar to the warning labels on tobacco and alcohol about the effects on human health. According to POLITICOWe were the first to report Governor Newsom’s announcement.
Governor Newsom and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, have long warned about the harms of social media to children and argued that tech companies are undermining efforts to protect young people.
Last year, Governor Newsom asked NetChoice to drop its lawsuit against the Age Appropriate Design Code Act, a child online safety law he signed into law in 2022. NetChoice, whose members include major tech companies such as Meta, Amazon, and Google, is a trade group that advocates for freedom of expression and enterprise freedom on the internet.
State lawmakers push for ban on cell phones in schools
California Governor Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday that he is committed to limiting students’ smartphone use during school hours. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
The governor said Tuesday that he plans to further strengthen a law he signed in 2019 that gives school districts the power to limit or ban students’ smartphone use during school hours. The governor said he will work with the Democratic-controlled Legislature this session to pass legislation restricting smartphone use in schools.
“As the Surgeon General has affirmed, social media is harming the mental health of young people,” Governor Newsom said in a statement. “I look forward to working with the Legislature to build on the law I signed in 2019 and to limit smartphone use during school hours. While children and teens are in school, they should be focused on their studies, not on screens.”
The California School Boards Association said the decision on whether to regulate smartphone use in schools should be up to school districts, not the state.
“We support legislation that allows school leaders to make policy decisions at the local level that reflect community concerns and what is needed to support students,” said Troy Flint, spokesman for the California School Boards Association. Associated Press.
Social psychologists urge parents to keep smartphones away from their kids to “protect” their mental health
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has urged Congress to require warning labels about the effects of social media platforms on children. (Reuters/Tom Brenner)
The Los Angeles Unified School District board voted Tuesday to enact a policy banning smartphone use during school hours, with some exceptions. Board member Nick Melvoin said, “Students are just as glued to their phones as adults.”
“When I talk to teachers, students, parents and principals, I hear the same thing: they are spending more and more time policing students’ cellphone use,” he said at the meeting. “There’s not consistent policing, and they’re asking for help from their boards and school districts.”
Governor Newsom’s announcement is notable because California’s Silicon Valley is home to many high-tech companies.
The decision puts the California governor in line with Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, who earlier this year signed one of the nation’s toughest bans on children’s social media use.
In recent years, proposals to impose fines on social media platforms that poison children have failed to become law in California, but a bill introduced by Democratic state Sen. Nancy Skinner that would ban platforms from providing addictive feeds to children passed the state Senate in May.
Governor Newsom said he plans to further strengthen a law he signed in 2019 that gave school districts the authority to limit or ban students’ smartphone use during class time. (Getty Images)
Click here to get the FOX News app
“Warning labels are important, but we also need to give parents the tools to protect their children from preventable harm,” Skinner told Politico, saying his bill would complement Murthy’s proposal.
State Sen. Henry Stern, a Democrat, introduced a bill earlier this year that would give school districts more power to restrict students’ social media use during the school day. Stern said he would be willing to repeal the bill, which has already passed the Senate, if Newsom and the Legislature can find a better alternative.
“It’s just too hard for every teacher, every school and every parent to have to solve this problem on their own,” Stern told The Associated Press. “Sometimes the government has to step in and make bigger rules.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
