Los Angeles School Board Votes to Impose Classroom Screen Time Limits for 500,000 Students
The Los Angeles education board has voted to restrict student screen time in classrooms, establishing a precedent as the first major US school system to implement such a policy. This resolution mandates staff to formulate screen-time policies tailored to grade levels and explicitly prohibits device usage for students in first grade and below.
This move comes as the district, serving approximately half a million students, seeks to curtail its reliance on tablets and laptops, a dependency that surged during the Covid-19 pandemic. Board member Nick Melvoin, who introduced the resolution, noted that while student devices were a "lifeline" in 2020, it is now "time that we reset."
New Restrictions and Parental Options
The impending restrictions, slated for implementation in the next school year, will specifically ban YouTube and other video-streaming platforms on school-issued devices. Furthermore, the policy will permit parents to opt their children out of using particular digital tools, offering a degree of choice in educational technology engagement.
The resolution references research indicating that children aged 8 to 11 who exceed established screen-time guidelines face an elevated risk of obesity and depressive symptoms, alongside demonstrating lower scores on cognitive assessments. This initiative follows a separate measure passed in 2024 by the district, which banned mobile phones and social media use within classrooms.
Board member Kelly Gonez stated that "technology can be a powerful tool, but too much screen time has real harmful effects on our students." She added that the resolution aims to "prioritising important skills and learning experiences for students, while protecting their childhoods and well-being by setting research-based screen time limits." Anya Meksin, deputy director of Schools Beyond Screens, a parent advocacy group, described the decision as "a big cultural shift into how schools approach technology," expressing hope for its wider adoption across the country.
