![\"Cell](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/timesofsandiego.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/School-cell-phones-scaled-e1761248810800.jpg?ssl=1\")
<\/a>Some Helix Charter High School students take a break from classes to spend time on their cell phones during the lunch hour. (Photo by Lauren Knuth)<\/p>\nIn the San Diego Unified School District<\/a>, school returned as always this fall, but with a change: new rules about cell phone use<\/a>, driven by a new state law requiring all schools to enact a policy limiting phones in classrooms.<\/p>\n The new rules ban cell phone use during the entire school day in lower grades. In high school, phones are allowed during lunch and passing periods, but not in class.\u00a0<\/p>\n Many schools say the new rules are more like adjustments, as schools often had similar rules in place in years past. But the new guidelines come as a response to\u00a0 California\u2019s Phone-Free School Act, Assembly Bill 3216<\/a>. District officials said students\u2019, parents\u2019 and teachers\u2019 feedback also went into the rules.<\/p>\n The prohibition starts off seeming absolute. For students, phones must be in the off position during class instruction. They must also be out of view and kept in a secure place, such as a backpack.<\/p>\n But there are exceptions.<\/p>\n Students can use their phones riding to and from school on a school bus if it does not interfere with the driver.\u00a0<\/p>\n High school students can also access their phones when at lunch or during other breaks in the day.\u00a0<\/p>\n If a teacher permits phones to work on and complete a classroom project, students may use them during class.<\/p>\n Finally, students can get to their phones in the event of a school emergency.<\/p>\n While cell phones remain ubiquitous, they also have become the latest version of the classic conflict in which students, parents and school leaders just don\u2019t see eye to eye.\u00a0<\/p>\n Teens say they want phones \u2013 or do they?\u00a0<\/p>\n According to a 2024 Pew Research Center study<\/a> involving teenagers and their phones, some students believe having access to the devices in school is a good thing.<\/p>\n Nearly half of the teens surveyed think cell phones have made it less complicated to do well in the classroom.\u00a0<\/p>\n Meanwhile, some other students surveyed online think cell phone restrictions on campus are a good thing.<\/p>\n Some say a ban helps students to focus more on their studies, and it leads to less potential bullying when students are not snapping photos or taking videos of other kids on campus.\u00a0<\/p>\n However students feel about bans, there\u2019s little question they\u2019re still using their phones.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to a study published earlier this year in JAMA Pediatrics<\/a>, teenagers are on their phones on average of 1.5 hours a day when they should be learning in the classroom. More alarmingly, a quarter of students spend more than two hours on the device they bring with them to school daily.<\/p>\n What students say<\/p>\n At Patrick Henry High School<\/a>, student Lily Castillo said: \u201cYeah, PHHS students have had to adjust to the new cell phone rules since we can\u2019t have our phones out during class anymore, only at lunch or passing periods. At first it felt strange, but now most of us just put them in the phone holders or our bags. It\u2019s become pretty normal now.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked what she has noticed so far in the classrooms this year, Castillo responded, \u201cI\u2019ve seen teachers remind or even take phones when students don\u2019t listen. It doesn\u2019t happen a lot, but it still does. The rules are clear \u2014 no phones during class unless a teacher says it\u2019s OK. <\/p>\n \u201cEvery classroom also has phone holders where we have to put them during lessons. It\u2019s easy to lose focus if people are checking their phones. The school is already helping by having phone holders, but teachers could keep making classes more engaging so phones are less tempting.\u201d<\/p>\n SDUSD isn\u2019t the only local entity that has updated its rules, as all other public schools are subject to the same state law.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Grossmont Union High School District\u2019s cell phone policy is much like San Diego Unified\u2019s.<\/p>\n As a public charter school and part of the Grossmont district, Helix Charter High School <\/a>is mindful of the distractions cell phones can have in the classroom.\u00a0<\/p>\n Like other schools, Helix already had a cell-phone policy. Executive Director Kevin Osborn said, \u201cThe current version reflects updated and clearly articulated expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n A few Helix students said they had some reservations about the policy and limited ability to turn to their phones during the day.<\/p>\n Chris Hilliman noted, \u201cNoooooo. It could be a safety hazard. On the off chance that something does happen, I can\u2019t call my parents or the police.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked if most students follow the phone policy in place, Hilliman added, \u201cA lot of people actually do follow the rules. Overall, I\u2019ve never been in a class where it\u2019s been a problem. I mainly use my phone at school to listen to music in between classes. I have heard other students think cell phone rules are pointless; they don\u2019t like the restrictions.\u201d<\/p>\n Fellow Helix student Miles Marsh stated, \u201cIn some classes, we are allowed to have our phones when the teacher isn\u2019t lecturing. But in other classes, the teacher makes it clear that they will take them if they see them. It depends on the teacher and the classroom. But most students follow the rules. A lot of students don\u2019t like the rules about cell phones, and I have heard frustration. But I understand the rules.\u201d<\/p>\n Facing the penalties<\/p>\n For students and their parents wondering how the district might react if one is caught using their phone in class when not authorized to do so, SDUSD does have in place potential penalties.<\/p>\n According to district documentation, those can include:\u00a0<\/p>\n Being reminded verbally phones are not permitted;<\/p>\n Referral to a school counselor;<\/p>\n Contacting a parent or other legal guardian.<\/p>\n In the event the above-mentioned options do not work, students could be subject to having their phones taken until class ends, confiscated and given to an administrator or being prohibited from participating in extracurricular activities and other school events on campus.<\/p>\n What schools are doing<\/p>\n School officials declined to provide specific numbers of students who have been disciplined, or to say how many phones had been confiscated under the new rules.\u00a0<\/p>\n Patrick Henry High School Principal Sandra White said the new policy wasn\u2019t a major change from the previous rules. \u201cThe key adjustment is that students may only use their phones during breaks, lunch, before school and after school,\u201d White said. \u201cTeachers now ask students to leave their phones behind when stepping out on a pass.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked about how the school has put parents more at ease and specifically how it would handle an emergency situation, White said, \u201cWe reassure families that students will always have access to communication in the event of an emergency. Every classroom is equipped with a phone and a radio and staff will communicate directly with families if an emergency occurs.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a>Patrick Henry High School. (Photo by Dave Thomas)<\/p>\n