This year, teachers in Texas have more reasons than most to be excited about the start of the new school year.
On June 20, Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) signed House Bill 1481 into law, requiring public and charter schools to implement policies that prevent student use of “cell phones, tablets, smartwatches, and other devices capable of telecommunication or digital communication—on school property during the school day.”
This is a positive development. Students will learn, students will talk, students will ask questions. In short, students will do what students should be doing: school. The majority, 72%, of high school teachers consider cellphones a major distraction during class, according to a 2023 Pew Research Center poll. Those high school teachers are welcoming the legislation with open arms.
And that is even with a number of expected growing pains, with students breaking the rules or experiencing the withdrawal symptoms that arise from breaking any kind of addiction.
The Guidance Document for HB 1481 Implementation explains that the bill is not merely aimed at promoting academic progress but also student wellness. In 2017, psychologist Jean Twenge published the book iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood. She reports that since the introduction of smartphones in 2010, rates of teenage depression have increased by over 60%, and suicide rates among teenage girls have nearly doubled. The legislation is long overdue, but promising nonetheless.
Fortunately, Texas is not alone in banning phones in schools. According to Campus Safety Magazine, as of June, there are 18 states with bans on student smartphone use at school. The first state to ban cellphones in school was Florida. In May 2023, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) signed HB 379, banning cellphone use in Florida classrooms for the 2023-24 school year. Indiana, Louisiana, and South Carolina followed suit for the 2024-25 school year. Since then, 14 other states have enacted laws banning phones in school for this current school year.
Texas has allocated $20 million to help schools and districts enact the new policies and rules or to purchase storage containers for student cellphones. This may sound like a lot, but the state spends over $10,000 per pupil for each of the approximately 5 million students in prekindergarten-12th grade schools. An extra $20 million distributed evenly across all students would entail a spending increase of a whopping $4 per pupil.
Ask any teacher in Texas if they would pay $4 to prevent a student in their class from bringing a cellphone — chances are they would pay out of pocket. The fact that the state government is paying for it seems too good to be true.
In fact, the same would be true of many parents. The societal pressure to have a phone and social media in high school seems insurmountable for most families. Parents, relieved of the burden of saying “no” will be grateful that at least someone has grown the courage to do it for them.
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As these bans take effect and demonstrate improvements in academic performance and student engagement, public schools may gain a competitive advantage that attracts families who might otherwise choose private schooling. This shift could compel private schools to implement equally rigorous cellphone policies to remain competitive.
Time will tell how effective the state-mandated bans will be. If phones are effectively banned, however, teachers across the nation can guarantee that public education outcomes will substantially improve.
Daniel B. Murphy is a teacher at Western Academy in Houston, where he teaches physical science, geometry, and woodworking. He writes about the history of education reform and policy on his Substack, What Schools Forget.