L.A. School Board Restricts Student Screen Time Amid Growing Concerns Over Child Development

The Los Angeles Unified School District board voted Tuesday to restrict student screen time in classrooms, making it the first major American school system to implement such limits.

The resolution, which passed 6-0 with one recusal, requires the district to create a screen time policy for each grade and subject, prohibit students in first grade and younger from using devices, clarify the process for parents to opt their child out of using technology at school, and audit its education technology contracts.

Board member Nick Melvoin, who drafted the resolution, said the measure is about balance and recalibrating the relationship with technology rather than eliminating it entirely.

“We have responsibility as one of the largest districts to draw a line in the sand when it comes to this recalibration and start the conversation,” Melvoin said in an interview ahead of the vote.

The vote followed months of pressure from parents who started a group called Schools Beyond Screens, speaking at board meetings, on social media, at district listening sessions, and in private meetings with administrators and board members about problems their children faced when required to use school-issued Chromebooks and iPads.

Families previously told NBC News that their children’s grades had dropped as they became distracted playing video games in class, watching YouTube, and scrolling social media and internet forums.

The resolution cited research from the American Academy of Pediatrics linking excessive screen time to increased anxiety and depression, difficulty with emotional regulation, lower academic achievement and reduced attention span.

Pending board approval, the new screen time policy will go into effect for the 2026-2027 school year.

LAUSD is the second-largest district in the nation with more than 520,000 enrolled students. Students in the district have access to Chromebooks and iPads for online learning.

The district has until June to develop a Screen Time Policy, “guided by an overarching vision and mission for appropriate technology use in the classroom–to be presented at the Committee of the Whole and brought to the Governing Board of the Los Angeles Unified School District.”