Dear County and District Superintendents, Charter School Administrators, and School Principals:

State Superintendent Thurmond Convenes Informational Hearing on Smartphones in Schools and Calls for the Input of Educators, Parents, and Students as Statewide Policy Takes Shape

I recently reconvened the Closing the Digital Divide Task Force to address smartphones, social media, and youth wellness. This task force initially came out of California’s urgent need to bridge technology resource gaps at the beginning of the pandemic, and it is the work of this task force that helped California’s students and families access affordable internet connectivity during distance learning.

Now, the Task Force has reconvened to address another urgent need facing our schools: smartphones and social media. As our statewide policy takes shape to address smartphones in schools and support students’ wellness, I want to make sure that we are learning from lessons in the field about what practices work well and what supports our students need.

I invite all superintendents and administrators to view Tuesday’s hearing, available for replay on the California Department of Education Facebook page at facebook.com/CAEducation , as you consider what local policy may be right for your school community.

At the hearing, we heard testimony from educators, parents, and students who have experienced a range of smartphone and social media policies on school campuses—from policies that remove smartphones from the educational environment by placing them in secure, locked pouches to policies that simply disincentivize smartphone use.

Attendees also heard from lawmakers who presented current bills that seek to keep children safe and healthy at school by restricting smartphone or social media use. Senator Henry Stern (D-27) presented Senate Bill (SB) 1283, and Assemblymember Josh Hoover presented Assembly Bill (AB) 3216. AB 3216, which would require all local educational agencies to establish a smartphone policy, recently passed the legislature and is headed to the Governor’s desk.

Technology and social media are tools to aid learning, but we also need to balance how those tools impact our youth. The data shows a clear need to address our students’ mental health both at school and at home. By listening to the voices of our students, educators, and families, we are better poised to really understand what our students are experiencing online and how we can truly support them.

According to a 2024 national survey by Hopelab , 73 percent of youth social media users say that they unconsciously reach for social media when bored, and 49 percent agree that they cannot control their use of social media or end up using it for a longer period of time than they originally wanted to. In addition, Black and Latino youth are about twice as likely as White youth to take a break from a social media account due to harassment or negative experiences online.

I believe that our young people need us to lead this effort to protect them online and at school—and they also need us to listen to them, and to their parents and teachers, so that our policies match our intent. I thank you for your leadership, and I hope to hear from you about successes and lessons learned that you have experienced when implementing phone policies locally. Together, we can take on this important challenge in service of our students and educators.

All input and inquiries about the Closing the Digital Divide Task Force should be directed to DigitalDivide@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

Tony Thurmond
State Superintendent of Public Instruction