A critical deadline is approaching, and SFUSD has yet to take clear action.
In September 2024, California passed the Phone-Free Schools Act, requiring all districts to adopt a policy limiting student smartphone use by July 1, 2026. Yet the San Francisco Unified School District has not introduced a comprehensive, district-wide, bell-to-bell phone-free policy. As a result, students across the district experience inconsistent expectations and unequal learning environments.
The impact of smartphones on learning is not theoretical. Students check their phones an average of 96 times per day, and each interruption can require up to 23 minutes to regain full focus. Over the course of a school day, this represents a significant erosion of instructional time and cognitive engagement. A 2023 UNESCO report spanning 14 countries found that schools implementing phone bans saw an 18.4% improvement in academic performance—especially among students who were already struggling. At the same time, the U.S. Surgeon General has identified adolescent smartphone and social media use as a national mental health crisis, citing a roughly 40% increase in teen anxiety and depression since 2012. These are measurable, compounding effects playing out daily in classrooms.
Other districts are already taking action. Los Angeles Unified and San Diego Unified have implemented district-wide phone-free school day policies, reporting improved focus, engagement, and fewer disruptions. Closer to home, Santa Clara Unified has adopted a similar approach.
SFUSD does not need to start from scratch. Roosevelt Middle School already enforces a clear, bell-to-bell policy requiring phones and personal electronic devices to be turned off and out of sight for the entire school day, including lunch and passing period. This demonstrates that a strong, enforceable policy is both feasible and effective within our own district.
A bell-to-bell phone-free policy is not punitive—it is protective. Evidence from the London School of Economics shows that removing phones from classrooms can improve test scores equivalent to adding an extra week of instruction per year, without additional funding or staffing. Schools that have adopted these policies also report improved student well-being, stronger peer relationships, and reductions in bullying. When districts implement consistent phone-free environments, students reconnect socially and academically in ways that fragmented attention simply does not allow.
We are calling on SFUSD to adopt a district-wide policy requiring all personal electronic devices—including phones, earbuds, and smartwatches—to be turned off and stored out of sight for the entire school day, with clear and consistent enforcement across all campuses.
We urge the Board of Education to publicly discuss and adopt this policy well before the state deadline. Delayed action risks a rushed, minimal-compliance policy rather than a thoughtful, effective standard that truly supports students.
Every student deserves a distraction-free learning environment—not just those at schools with stricter enforcement.
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/urge-sfusd-to-implement-a-district-wide-bell-to-bell-phone-free-school-policy
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一個重要嘅截止日期就快到喇，而 SFUSD 仲未採取明確嘅行動。
喺2024年9月，加州通過咗《冇電話學校法案》，要求所有學區喺2026年7月1日前採取一項限制學生使用智能手機嘅政策。結果，全區嘅學生經歷咗唔一致嘅期望同唔平等嘅學習環境。
智能手機對學習嘅影響唔係理論上嘅。學生平均每日睇手機96次，每次中斷可能需要多達23分鐘先可以重新集中注意力。喺一個學校日子嘅過程中，呢個代表咗教學時間同認知參與度嘅顯著侵蝕。 2023年嘅一份涵蓋14個國家嘅聯合國教科文組織報告發現，實行電話禁令嘅學校嘅學業成績提升咗18.4 % — — 尤其係喺已經有困難嘅學生當中。同時，美國外科醫生總長已經指出青少年使用智能手機同社交媒體係一個全國性嘅精神健康危機，佢指出自2012年以來，青少年嘅焦慮同抑鬱大約增加咗40 % 。呢啲係可以量度嘅，係每日喺課室發生嘅複合效應。
其他區已經採取緊行動。洛杉磯統一同聖地牙哥統一已經實施咗全區嘅冇電話學校日政策，報告話專注力、參與度有所改善，同埋中斷嘅次數減少咗。距離屋企更近嘅聖克拉拉統一學校亦都採用咗類似嘅方法。
SFUSD 唔需要由頭開始。羅斯福中學已經執行咗一個清晰嘅鐘對鐘政策，要求電話同個人電子裝置喺成個學校日子內閂咗，同埋唔好畀人睇到，包括午餐同過堂期間。呢個證明咗一個強大、可執行嘅政策喺我哋自己嘅區內係可行同有效。
鐘對鐘冇電話政策唔係懲罰性嘅，而係保護性嘅。倫敦經濟學院嘅證據顯示，喺課室入面移除電話可以提升考試成績，相當於每年額外增加一個星期嘅教學，而唔需要額外嘅資金或者人手。採用呢啲政策嘅學校亦都報告咗學生嘅福祉有所改善，同儕關係更加緊密，同埋欺凌嘅減少。當學區實行一致嘅冇電話環境，學生就會以分散注意力根本唔容許嘅方式重新建立社交同學業上嘅聯繫。
我哋呼籲 SFUSD 採取全學區政策，要求所有個人電子裝置 — 包括電話、耳機同智能手錶 — 都要閂咗，並且喺整個學校日子內儲存喺唔見得人嘅地方，並且喺所有校園都清晰同一致噉執行。
我哋敦促教育局喺州截止日期之前公開討論同通過呢個政策。延遲行動會冒一個趕時間、最低合規政策嘅風險，而唔係一個真正支持學生嘅深思熟慮、有效嘅標準。
每個學生都應該有一個冇分心嘅學習環境 — 唔單止係喺執法更嚴格嘅學校嘅學生。
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/urge-sfusd-to-implement-a-district-wide-bell-to-bell-phone-free-school-policy