Lawmakers want Texas to join a growing number of states in prohibiting public school kids from using smartphones during the school day, responding to requests from educators who say the state needs to eliminate distractions in the classroom.
Rep. Caroline Fairly of Amarillo sponsored House Bill 1481, which would prohibit K-12 public school students from using smartphones during the normal school day. It comes after at least eight states imposed similar restrictions in the last two years, including Democratic-led California and Republican-led Arkansas.
The prohibitions come as parents grow more concerned about the detrimental mental health effects of cyberbullying and young people’s social media usage.
The measure has the support of a majority of the Texas House, including Democrats and Republicans. Fairly, a Republican and the lone Generation Z member of the Texas Legislature, said that she proposed the bill because she was “born into these devices” and understood the distractions they may bring in the classroom.
“When you see what is being pushed on social media and the distraction it causes in the classroom, there is a need for our government to support our educators in this,” Fairly told The Texas Tribune on Tuesday.
Fairly said that she expects the prohibition would help pupils better their mental health and academic performance.
In recent years, a growing body of research has revealed that smartphone usage in schools may lead to pupils struggling to engage in class and having shorter attention spans. Several Texas school districts have already implemented cellphone bans. Rancier Middle School in Killeen ISD, roughly 75 miles north of Austin, was one of the most recent.
Janelle Muhammad, Rancier’s principle, said her school prohibited cellphone usage at the start of the current school year in response to increased cyberbullying concerns and in-person conflicts among students, which she claimed were often orchestrated or videotaped using smartphones.
According to Muhammad, students in the district now store their phones in school-provided pouches at the start of each day. Students may keep that pouch in their backpacks throughout the school day, allowing parents to monitor their phones and whereabouts, she said.
During a House Public Education Committee hearing on Tuesday, Muhammad said that when the ban went into force, parents and kids “went through the five stages of grievance” before adjusting to the policy. She informed legislators that since the policy was implemented, the frequency of in-person clashes and cyberbullying instances has decreased.
“Students are now fully engaged [in learning] without the constant pull of social media,” Mr. Muhammad said. “Students are engaging in more face-to-face interactions [and] building real connection rather than relying [on] digital communication.”
HB 1481 would provide school districts more freedom in deciding whether to allow cellphone usage during extracurricular activities. Schools would also be allowed to choose whether to limit cellphone usage by forbidding kids from bringing their devices to school or by establishing a “secure storage” area for them.
The restriction also prohibits the use of any gadget “capable of telecommunication or digital communication,” such as a wristwatch, flip phone, or pager.
Certain pupils would be excluded from the prohibition. According to HB 1481, kids in some special education settings will be permitted to use smartphones if they are required for teaching or if a physician certifies that the student need the device.
Some who spoke on Tuesday felt that prohibiting pupils from using their phones for the whole school day was too restrictive. An previous version of the law, submitted in December, prohibited cellphone usage during “instructional time” rather than the “school day,” which allowed pupils to use their devices outside the classroom.
Tricia Cave, a lobbyist for the Association of Texas Professional Educators, told committee members that her group supported the original version of the measure, but does not support the added wording prohibiting cellphone usage during the school day. She said that although she still supports the bill’s goal, the amended wording is “overly prescriptive.”
During Tuesday’s session, Rep. Alma Allen, D-Houston, expressed concern that a cellphone ban was going too far and would make it more difficult for children to call law authorities or their parents if their safety was endangered. She referred to the 2022 mass shooting at Uvalde Elementary School, in which kids alerted the authorities.
Some who spoke on Tuesday also said that the law would establish a “unfunded mandate” by requiring school districts to comply with a new policy without providing the necessary cash. Mary Lowe, co-founder of the charity Families Engaged for Effective Education, said that by introducing a new requirement for school districts without additional funds, HB 1481 would deprive these districts of some local autonomy over their own cellphone rules.
Fairly said that she is open to adding extra financing to the plan.
If passed into law, the measure would go into effect at the start of the 2025-26 school year.
