Goleta Unified School District may recommend that families not give their elementary-aged children smartphones, or at least delay the decision to give one.

The GUSD board discussed a draft resolution on Wednesday night that outlines the risks of young children having access to smartphones, citing research from the American Academy of Pediatrics and Pew Research Center. 

The resolution stated that in 2025 approximately 57% of American children between 11-12 years old owned smartphones.

The draft recommended that families consider alternatives to smartphones and for families to discuss with their pediatricians about how technology could be used in a “developmentally appropriate manner.” 

But after hearing from boardmembers, the district resolution might instead recommend that families delay when they give their children smartphones. 

“That may be more clear and may be more prescriptive towards parents,” Board President Ethan Bertrand said.

But boardmember Richard Mayer is worried this comes across as the district policing parenting techniques.

“I agree with this, but I am also a little queasy about resolutions and I know we have a good relationship with our community, and I just wonder what our role is in giving advice to parents about how they should raise their kids,” he said.

Some board members agreed with Mayer’s point, but Board Member Emily Zacarias thinks this is a move in the right direction by having a specific district recommendation for families. 

“I think we are ahead of the game,” she said. 

Bertrand also pointed out that the draft resolution says “the District recognizes that parents know their children best, and trusts parents to make the best decisions about how their children interact with technology, including smartphones.” 

Boardmembers Vicki Ben-Yaacov and Sholeh Jahangir suggested making it more clear that the recommendation is based on the board’s opinion. They would like to add language that would motivate families to think deeply before giving their children a smartphone. 

Ben-Yaacov also urged the board to think about how this recommendation might impact underserved or low-income communities. 

“We also have to think right now about how the highly educated parents are the ones that really want to reduce screen time and they do this at home, but then there are a group of kids whose parents might not have a latest understanding of screen time,” she said

The resolution would build on GUSD’s current no-phone policy, according to the draft. 

“The District feels obligated to support parents and families in navigating questions about how their children can use technology in a healthy manner,” the draft says.

Currently the district does not allow students to use devices while on campus according to the district’s 2025-2026 Annual Notice of Rights and Responsibilities. 

The policy states that “students shall not use on school campus personal electronic signaling devices including, but not limited to, pagers, cellular/digital telephones for voice usage, digital imaging, or text messaging or other mobile communications devices such as digital media players, personal digital assistants (PDAs), compact disc players, portable game consoles, cameras, digital scanners, and laptop computers. All devices must be turned off and placed in the student’s backpack. ”

While no action was taken Wednesday night, the board will revisit the recommendation and resolution at its next meeting on Feb. 18. 

People can attend board meetings in person at 401 N. Fairview Ave. or online by clicking here. 

GUSD is not the only district battling against the use of smartphones on campus. 

The Santa Barbara Unified School District implemented an “off and away policy” in 2022 that required students to keep devices in backpacks.

Later in 2024, SBUSD schools also implemented “cell hotels” where students had to put their devices in a phone caddy during instruction time and could only access them after school and during lunch time. 

Since 2019, Gov. Gavin Newsom also signed AB 272 into law, which grants districts the ability to regulate the use of smartphones during school hours.