The Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest school district in the country, has adopted new guidelines limiting screen time for its students on district-issued devices, following a previously passed district cellphone ban.
According to the new guidelines, which were approved Tuesday, screen time will be banned for students in early education, kindergarten and first grade, with phased implementation beginning in August 2026.
Students in grades two and three will be allotted up to 20 minutes of screen time per day under the updated guidelines, for a maximum of 100 minutes total per week, including homework assignments, with implementation beginning in November 2026.
Grades four and five will be limited to 30 minutes per day under the new policy, or up to 150 minutes per week, including homework, beginning in November 2026.
Grades six through eight will have a maximum limit of 60 minutes of screen time per subject, per week under the new policy, with homework included. Grades nine through 12 have a limit of 90 minutes per subject per week, homework included.
The new policy for grades six and up will begin in January 2027.
“The screen time policy approved yesterday includes eliminating screen time for students in Early Education through 1st grade, reducing screen time a cross all grade levels, and refining how instructional tools are utilized to better support teaching and learning,” a Los Angeles Unified spokesperson told ABC News in a statement Wednesday.
The Los Angeles Unified School District previously approved a ban on cellphone and social media use for K-12 students during school days. The ban, approved in June 2024, came one day after then-U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek H. Murthy called for a warning label on social media platforms in a New York Times op-ed.