Map Shows Countries Around World With School Phone Bans
House Bill 1481 requires public schools and open-enrollment charter schools to implement policies prohibiting students from using a "personal communication device" during school hours. The policy also requires the school to adopt punishments for students found using these devices.
Devices will be allowed if they are necessary for an educational program, if the student has a doctor's note, or if it is required to comply with health or safety regulations.
Supporters of bans restricting cellphone use in school argue that the devices are distracting students. In Texas, 85 percent of teachers in the Richardson Independent School District reported that they got instructional time back under the district's cellphone ban, according to FOX 7 Austin.
Critics argue that the devices are necessary for safety reasons. Students at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde used cellphones to call for help during a school shooting in 2022.
Bans on cellphone usage in schools are in effect in many nations around the world, including the United Kingdom, Australia, Brazil, Malaysia, Ghana, and the United Arab Emirates.
The bans often have certain exceptions, including phone use for educational purposes or to accommodate students with disabilities. Some countries, such as Latvia, only ban cellphone usage among younger students.
Other countries, such as Mexico, Canada, Indonesia, Bolivia, Spain, and Germany, have regional bans on the use of cellphones in schools.
Alabama
Arkansas
California
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Indiana
Louisiana
Minnesota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Pennsylvania
South Carolina
Texas
Virginia
Washington
Texas State Senator Brandon Creighton, in a statement: "Texas educators have increasingly voiced concerns about cell phones disrupting the classroom, and the data backs them up. Over 70 percent of national high school teachers say that cell phone distraction is one of the major problems that cause disruption."
U.K. Education Secretary Gillian Keegan, in a statement: "Schools are places for children to learn and mobile phones are, at a minimum, an unwanted distraction in the classroom. We are giving our hard-working teachers the tools to take action to help improve behaviour and to allow them to do what they do best – teach."
School boards in Texas were given 90 days to adopt the new cellphone policy.
Globally, several countries are reportedly considering nationwide bans on cellphones during school hours.
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