LA Schools Banned Screen Time For Young Students.
The second largest school district in the United States just made a bold decision that parents across California have been hoping to see. The Los Angeles Unified School District approved sweeping new screen time limits for all of its students, building on a cell phone ban passed in 2024 and going further than nearly any other major school system in the country. Starting in August, students in early education, kindergarten, and first grade will have no screen time at all on school devices, while second and third graders will be capped at 20 minutes per day, fourth and fifth graders at 30 minutes per day, and high schoolers at 90 minutes per subject per week, with all limits including homework. The policy also ends the practice of sending school-issued computers home with younger students, replacing individual devices with shared laptop carts available during school hours.
Acting Superintendent Andres Chait described the approach as being about balance, explaining that the goal has never been to eliminate technology but to use it thoughtfully in ways that genuinely build critical thinking rather than simply saturating students with screens throughout the day. Board Member Nick Melvoin, who introduced the resolution, noted that devices became a necessary lifeline during the pandemic but said the district's charge now is to recalibrate and find a healthier balance for students at every grade level. The American Academy of Pediatrics has warned that low-quality screen use including mindless scrolling, autoplay videos, and algorithm-driven content can interfere with sleep, learning, and emotional regulation in children. For the more than 400,000 students in the Los Angeles Unified School District, this marks the beginning of a school day that looks a lot more like the classrooms most of their parents remember.
