Gov. Gavin Newsom, in a letter to school leaders last month, encouraged districts to enact restrictions on smartphones on campuses.

Here's are the details of California's Phone-Free Schools Act, approved by lawmakers and sent to Gov. Gavin Newsom. Get ready for a massive change for cellphone-obsessed students.

If passed school districts will have to adopt a policy by July 2026 to limit or ban the use of smartphones by students during the school day.

Cellphones are not only a distraction in class, they can also be a distraction during an emergency, when survival may depend on split-second decisions, experts say.

Emotional texts exchanged during the Apalachee High shooting has reopened the question of cellphones in schools.

As a mass shooting played out at a Georgia high school, many students texted or called their families on their cell phones. Some parents said they were thankful their children had their phones, despite a growing movement by schools to prohibit cell phone use during the school day.

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