LAKESIDE, Calif. — As more school districts throughout the state are adopting cell phone bans, one East County school district is questioning whether its current restrictions are working.
Lakeside Union School District said that a majority of their parents and teachers support a ban during class time, but some students are calling for more flexibility outside of class.
Lakeside Union originally passed its cell phone restrictions in 2019. However, armed with new data now, they're taking a closer look at whether to strengthen or revise its existing policy.
"I think it's strong enough," said seventh-grader Paola Melgarejo, who goes to Tierra del Sol Middle School in Lakeside. "They can lay off it for now."
Melgarejo believes the existing cell phone policy is sufficiently strict. "The cell phone can't be in your pocket," she added, "It has to be fully turned off in your backpack."
Currently, phones are forbidden not just during class, but also during breaks and lunchtime, and under the policy must be put away during the entire school day.
The policy also gives teachers and administrators the power to confiscate phones if they decide it's necessary.
Last month, Governor Newsom strongly encouraged the state's school districts to restrict their use on campus.
"We beat the state on banning phones," said Andrew Hayes, the Lakeside Union school board's president. 'We did this in 2019, but now it's a matter of, are we going to strengthen the policy? Is it working, is it effective?"
He pointed to a local survey carried out this summer by the district that found that about 62 percent of parents and 88 percent of staff members found a "significant majority support" for limiting cell phone use during school hours.
"We know parents think they really shouldn't be out at school, teachers think that too," Hayes added. "So at the end of the day, how do we help them do that, and is our existing policy strong enough or should we do more?"
One point of contention for some students is the ban during lunch.
"I feel like during lunch it should be okay just because that's our free time too," said Nathaniel Johnson, who attends a nearby district. "People go outside and play, so I don't see why phones would be a problem."
His mom said she wants to be able to get in touch with her son, if necessary.
"It can be a distraction," she said. "I don't believe cell phones should be used in the classroom, unless there's an emergency of course."
Hayes said that over the next few weeks, he's launching an informal pilot project to get feedback from schools to determine if the current policy needs tweaking.
"Is that something we should consider strengthening?" he added. "But my policy has always been, Let's ask before we act."
The Lakeside Union School District plans to vote on whether to revise the existing policy at its meeting in October.
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