Your donation will help us produce journalism like this. Please give today.

As a district-wide cell phone ban is set to go into effect early next year, some Los Angeles Unified schools already have a no phone policy — but it’s hardly ever enforced, students at one school said.

At Panorama High School & Magnets, students follow the district’s current cell phone policy which allows electronic devices on campus but they must be turned off and put away during class.

Students at Panorama also face strict consequences as part of the school’s cell phone policy. If they are caught using their device, they can be referred to the dean and have their phones taken away until a parent or guardian comes to school and retrieves it.

But students said the policy is not enforced by all Panorama educators. 

“For me, it’s only one teacher…and she gets really mad if you have it on your desk even if you’re not using it,” Linda, a 12th grade student, said. “The rest don’t really care.”

For Emily, an 11th grade student, limited access to cell phones during class has worked out.

“In my second period class, my teacher gives us five minute breaks to use our phones,” Emily, 16, said. “I think that’s really helpful because we can use that time to text our parents or friends.”

Panorama students said a more sweeping ban would be “dumb” particularly as they worry about potential on-campus violence, such as the recent school shooting in Georgia. 

“We live in the ghetto so you never know what could happen,” Linda, 16, said.

“There’s times when our school goes on lockdown because some crazy guy with a knife jumps the fence,” Linda said. “What if one day they make it into my classroom with a gun and I don’t have my phone? How am I going to text my mom I love you?”

Luis, a 12th grade student at Panorama, said he understands why a cell phone policy exists but disagreed with a ban barring students from bringing the devices to school. 

“If they say put it away we’re going to have a test, I’d be okay with that…but if it’s the whole day then I wouldn’t,” Luis, 17, said.

Like Panorama, students at Gardena High School are allowed to hold on to their cell phones but they cannot be visible, turned on or used during school hours.

Teachers and staff at Culver City High School have created a middle-ground approach where students place their cell phones in a designated area at the beginning of class and retrieve them at the end — with the process repeated for each class throughout the school day.

Los Angeles officials have until October to determine how they will enforce the cell phone ban approved in June. But conversations about the district-wide ban have left students confused about what the ban is aiming to fix.

In addition, California Gov. Gavin Newsome signed the Phone-Free School Act into law earlier this week, giving districts until July 2026 to create a cell phone policy banning or restricting the devices to cut down on distractions in classrooms and address concerns about students’ mental health.

Classroom Engagement

But Yaretzi, an 11th grade student at Panorama, believes cell phone bans won’t address the core reasons why some students aren’t performing well in school.

“In my classes, I don’t really see people on their phones like that…they’re paying attention in class…they’re actually respectful and listening to the teacher talk because they want to get their work done,” Yaretzi, 16, said.

“But if somebody doesn’t want to pay attention, they’re not going to pay attention,” Yaretzi said. “Even if you take their phone they’re going to space out, sleep or do something else. If anything, it’s going to piss them off and they’re going to care about their grades even less.”

‘Exaggerated’ Cyberbullying Concerns

Some experts say cutting off cell phone access the entire school day will ensure students excel academically and develop socially.

Kim Whitman, a co-founder of the Phone-Free Schools Movement, told The 74’s Linda Jacobson how cell phone access during school hours “allows negative activities to happen between classes — cyberbullying, planning fights and others videoing them.”

But Los Angeles students say this perspective is out of touch with what actually happens on school grounds.

“How are you gonna get cyberbullied in 2024?” said Linda. “I’m not trying to be mean…[but] I feel like people don’t really bully online like that anymore.”

Yaretzi agreed, noting how millennial and Gen X experiences with online hate isn’t the same as Gen Zers who grew up in the digital age.

“Cyberbullying is so 2013,” Yaretzi said. “You only really get cyberbullied if you’re a big [social media] creator…but we all go to school here and we do the same shit — what is there to bully?”

“If someone is going to cyberbully, that’s not going to happen during school hours,” she added. “That’s an after school or weekend thing…I doubt somebody will take the time to pull out their phone, go on Instagram and hate on you while we’re all sitting in the same building.”

Luis believes cell phone bans are hypocritical given the district’s ongoing priority in tech projects — from Chromebook mandates to the failed artificial intelligence chatbot.

“I don’t like how they’re picking and choosing what technology they want us to have access to,” Luis said.

When Los Angeles officials announce how they will enforce the cell phone ban, Yaretzi, Emily and Luis said they will respect it.

But Linda said no matter what she won’t follow the ban.

“Cancel me, I don’t care, I’m not going to do that,” Linda said.

A spokesperson for the district and Panorama High School & Magnets did not respond to a request for comment.