LAUSD cellphone ban leads to decrease in disruptions, says superintendent amid mixed reviews

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- It's been about a month since the implementation of LAUSD's new cellphone ban, and there are mixed reviews. Superintendent Alberto Carvalho says that after a challenging start, he's hearing positive feedback from students and staff.

"They're looking each other in the eye. They're speaking. They're providing opinions. They're telling jokes. They're playing games. They are being human beings," Carvalho said. "We need that level of social interaction. I know at the beginning, if you ask them, they will tell you at the beginning it was very disruptive because it was something that forced them to break away from something they were very accustomed to and unfortunately some instances, addicted to."

Carvalho says this ban forces students to substitute technology for humanity. He says the district is seeing an increase in socialization, a decrease in class disruptions and lesser negative school interactions like fights in school. However, several kids say many students are circumventing the ban.

"I think the majority of kids, they don't really do that. They just keep it in their backpacks," said Owen Curtis, a student at Venice High School. "Because I think some teachers actually told students that they can just keep it in their backpack so they don't get caught. So that's what I think the majority of kids do."

"It could be a good thing and bad thing at the same time because our phones do keep us from like focusing on our work and things that we're supposed to be getting done," said Jozlyn Alexander, another student of Venice High School. "But at the same time, our phones can be used as an educational tool."

Currently, the ban applies to the entire school day including time passing between classes and the lunch break.