On June 20, 2025, Governor Greg Abott signed the Texas phone law, House Bill 1481 that the Texas legislature passed earlier. The Texas phone law bans the use of personal electronic devices like cell phones, smartwatches, and headphones by students during school hours. These devices need to be put away in a secure place where they’re out of sight
The legislature passed the law so students will focus on their work and hope it decreases the number of distractions happening during class. Their goal is to encourage students to be more active and participate in class discussions. Governor Abott’s decision to sign this law infuriated many parents and students. Multiple parents have discussed their concerns about contacting their kids during emergencies.
I agree with this decision to enforce this law because it will be a great way for students to become more socially engaged with others and not be stuck on their phones scrolling through social media. Texas schools will benefit from this law.
I believe this law will reduce the amount of cyberbullying and cause less fights in school because now people aren’t able to talk about others online or send them messages telling them to go meet them to fight. It has put an end to recording teachers in classrooms and posting them on social media without their permission, while distracting others from learning.
This will make it difficult for students to cheat during tests and assignments since they can’t use their phones to google the answers. Instead, they will have to put their effort into studying the material to pass the test because their phones won’t be there to help them find the answers. Students will now be learning about new things, and their test scores will improve drastically. Teachers don’t have to worry about correcting and asking kids to put up their phones when teaching, but now they won’t have any issue about it.
However, though I agree with this decision, I understand why many others are upset with this. Phones can also be valuable tools for communication, research, and organizing your projects.
One Ball High student expressed her thoughts, “I think that banning phones was kind of a good idea because students might focus more on their work rather than being on their phone. But also, they should allow us to use it during lunch and in the hallways because we might have emergencies.”
