Lawmakers want Texas to join a growing number of states in prohibiting public school students from using cellphones 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 regular 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 bans come as parents become increasingly concerned about the negative mental health effects of cyberbullying and young people’s social media use.
The bill 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, stated that she introduced the bill because she was “born into these devices” and understood the distractions they can 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 said in an interview with The Texas Tribune on Tuesday.
Fairly added that she expects the prohibition will help pupils better their mental health and academic performance.
Recently, a growing body of research has revealed that cellphone use in schools can 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 principal, said her school banned cellphone use at the start of the current school year in response to increased cyberbullying concerns and in-person conflicts among students, which she said were frequently orchestrated or recorded using cellphones.
According to Muhammad, students in the district now place their phones in school-provided pouches at the start of each day. Students can keep that pouch in their backpacks throughout the school day, allowing parents to track their phones and location, she explained.
During a House Public Education Committee hearing on Tuesday, Muhammad testified that when the ban went into force, parents and kids “went through the five stages of grievance” before adjusting to the policy. She informed lawmakers 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,” 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 use during extracurricular activities. Schools would also be able to choose whether to limit cellphone use 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 smartwatch, flip phone, or pager.
The ban would exclude certain pupils. According to HB 1481, kids in some special education settings will be permitted to use smartphones if they are required for instruction or if a physician certifies that the student needs the device.
Some who testified on Tuesday felt that prohibiting pupils from using their phones for the whole school day was overly restrictive. An earlier version of the law, filed in December, prohibited cellphone use 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 organization supported the original version of the measure but does not support the added wording prohibiting cellphone use throughout the school day. She stated that while she still supports the bill’s purpose, the amended language 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 students to contact law authorities or their parents if their safety was threatened. She referred to the 2022 mass shooting at Uvalde Elementary School, in which kids alerted the enforcement.
Some who testified 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, stated that by adding a new requirement for school districts without new funds, HB 1481 would deprive these districts of some local autonomy over their own cellphone rules.
She fairly stated that she is open to adding extra financing to the plan.
If passed into law, the bill would go into effect with the start of the 2025-26 school year.