{"id":446167,"date":"2026-08-28T14:16:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T14:16:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/446167\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T14:16:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T14:16:15","slug":"ousd-takes-up-screen-time-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/446167\/","title":{"rendered":"OUSD takes up screen time rules"},"content":{"rendered":"

At Wednesday\u2019s Oakland Unified School District board meeting, directors tackled the contentious question of student screen time, taking up a resolution<\/a> that would prohibit students from using Chromebooks or personal laptops outside of instructional time. The resolution would also prevent the district from adopting software or programs that rely on game-like reward systems, direct the superintendent to create guidelines for the next school year laying out what is appropriate screen time for students, and provide professional development to principals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For now, their decision is to take a beat. The board said it needs time to address questions of equity and to bring in student perspectives.<\/p>\n

District 1 Director Rachel Latta introduced the resolution and advocated for it as a natural follow-up to the district\u2019s new cellphone ban<\/a>, which requires students to lock away their phones for the duration of the school day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we as a district believe that students should not have access to their phone during the school day so that they can be engaged in school and academics, and that whatever screen time we provide is around academic learning, my belief is that we should not be allowing students to access devices for recreational purposes,\u201d Latta said last night.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The conversation comes as a growing number of school districts and states are taking a closer look at how exposure to technology, screens, and social media can harm students\u2019 mental health and cognitive development. This week, Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, settled a multibillion dollar lawsuit<\/a> with California and more than two dozen other states that claimed the company\u2019s products negatively impacted the mental health of children and teens, in a case heard in an Oakland federal courtroom. And Oakland assemblymembers Mia Bonta and Buffy Wicks have co-sponsored legislation this session that would prohibit social media apps from exposing users younger than 16 to addictive features<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Oakland school board directors expressed concern that the resolution as written could have any unintended consequences.\u00a0<\/p>\n

District 7 Director Clifford Thompson, an elementary school teacher in West Contra Costa Unified, suggested the guidelines might limit teachers\u2019 options in the classroom.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we talk about game-like reward systems, that is a pedagogical strategy used by many educators in the classroom,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen we\u2019re trying to teach a particular skill, many times it is predicated on something that looks like a game, but it\u2019s an educational strategy to facilitate the students\u2019 learning of a particular concept.\u201d<\/p>\n

Director Patrice Berry, who represents District 5, recommended that district staff consult with students in developing the guidelines and proposed removing the ban on recreational use to encourage district officials to consider more carefully how such as prohibition would be carried out.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat may be the end outcome, but it\u2019s ahead of the process, and I think integrity of process is probably important,\u201d Berry said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Concerns about a too-strict laptop ban<\/p>\n

The resolution was developed in collaboration with parent and teacher representatives of Schools Beyond Screens<\/a>, an organization founded in Los Angeles that advocates for responsible technology use in the classroom. Oakland was the first city beyond Los Angeles to have a Schools Beyond Screens group, Dian Le, an OUSD parent, told The Oaklandside.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The group is now inviting educators to work with them on developing evidence-based training to offer school leaders about responsible device use, Le told The Oaklandside.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s easy to say blanket ban, tech is bad, so no screens,\u201d she said. \u201cWe should know when not to use tech, but are there specific instances where it does make sense, and why? I do recognize there are specific instances where tech would be useful. I don\u2019t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater.\u201d<\/p>\n

Director Mike Hutchinson, who represents District 4, also warned against blanket ban, saying it could be inequitable.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it was just the first clause that called for the superintendent to do this work and report back, no problem,\u201d he said. \u201cBut to say you\u2019re going to go into our schools tomorrow and we\u2019re going to cut off access to our students in these other times \u2014 that\u2019s a real equity issue. What about our students that the only point they can access a Chromebook and the internet is in these recreational times at school?\u201d<\/p>\n

The board sent the resolution to its teaching and learning committee to be refined further, and to allow the district\u2019s student governing body, the All-City Council Student Union, to weigh in. The board\u2019s two student directors, who are members of All-City Council, questioned how teachers would enforce a blanket ban on recreational device use and how that free time would be filled instead.<\/p>\n

They also reflected on the first few weeks of the district\u2019s cellphone ban. Student director Amina Tongun, a senior at Oakland Technical High School, said she\u2019s noticed more socializing between students and higher engagement in class, but she also said that students felt blindsided and left out of conversations around how the ban would be carried out.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Implementation and enforcement have left some gaps, such as long waits to get the Yondr-brand pouches unlocked at the end of the school day due to an insufficient number of magnets, said Andrew Bloch, a first-year student at Oakland High.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are plenty of ways around this policy, like not locking the Yondr pouch, putting a different phone in it, or putting a burner phone in it,\u201d Bloch said. \u201cWe even heard a story from Fremont [High School] where a student put a block of cheese in their Yondr pouch. There are plenty of ways around it and administration doesn\u2019t have the manpower to fully implement this for every single student.\u201d<\/p>\n

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