Latest news with #CarolineFairly
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Bill that would ban cellphones in Texas public schools heads to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk
A bill banning Texas K-12 students from using cellphones in school is headed to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk, with local school districts set to decide how the new rule will be applied. House Bill 1481, introduced by Rep. Caroline Fairly of Amarillo, seeks to restrict the use of 'personal wireless communication devices' in K-12 schools. The Texas Senate passed it unanimously on Sunday. It also received overwhelming support in the House, which voted 136-10 to approve it in April. Under the bill, students will not be allowed to use their cellphones during the school day. School districts will decide where students can store their phones, such as secure pouches, lockers, charging stations or backpacks. The policy also requires schools to have disciplinary actions in place for students who break the rules, including the possibility of confiscating their phones. Students who need their phones for medical or safety reasons will be allowed to keep them. If signed by the governor, the bill will become law on Sept. 1. Texas would join several other states that already enforce similar policies, including California, Florida, Minnesota, Indiana, Ohio, Arkansas, Louisiana, Virginia and South Carolina. Another 26 states have proposed bans, and some Texas school districts have already put the policy in place. Supporters of the ban argue that cellphones are a major distraction in the classroom and can hurt students' mental health. Research supports this, indicating that excessive phone use can interfere with students' ability to focus and engage in class. Fairly, the only Gen Z member of the Texas House, said she understands firsthand the negative impact of social media on students. '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,' she told The Texas Tribune in March. Another common argument in favor of the bill is the potential to reduce bullying. According to Pew Research, 44% of K-12 parents who support the ban cite a decrease in cyberbullying as a major reason. Critics worry that banning phones could make it harder for parents to communicate with their children during the school day. Others are concerned about student safety, arguing that in an emergency, students should be able to access their phones to call for help. First round of TribFest speakers announced! Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Maureen Dowd; U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio; Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker; U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California; and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas are taking the stage Nov. 13–15 in Austin. Get your tickets today!
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Texas House takes first step towards banning cellphones in public classrooms
The Brief The Texas House passed HB 1481 on Wednesday. The bill would require cell phones in classrooms to be placed in a secure, out-of-sight area during instruction times. The bill will now head to the Senate. AUSTIN, Texas - The Texas House on Wednesday advanced a bill that would require a secure, out-of-sight area to keep phones during instructional times. House Bill 1481 sailed through the House on Wednesday on a 136-10 vote. Amarillo Republican Rep. Caroline Fairly, the bill's author, said restricting cellphones in classrooms can lead to higher test scores and help teachers better manage their classrooms while improving mental health in students. "We are targeting being sure that our kids go to school to focus on academics, but we also protect them," Fairly said on a recent episode of Texas: The Issue Is. "You know, the amount of cyberbullying that's being cited in these schools is it's gone up so much more." Around 20 or 25 school districts already have a ban on cellphones in classrooms, according to Fairly. She said the bill allows for individual school districts to determine the proper consequences for not following the rule. The other side Opponents of taking away cellphones from students worry about communication with their child in the event of an emergency. Fairly has previously suggested that kids on their phones during an emergency like a school shooting could make them targets because they're making noise. What's next The bill now heads to the Senate where it can be debated in committee and voted to the Senate floor for debate. The Source Information on House Bill 1481 passing comes from the Texas Legislature. Previous comments from Rep. Fairly come from an interview with FOX 4's Steven Dial on Texas: The Issue is on March 23, 2025.
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Texas bill would ban phones from classrooms
The Brief HB 1481 would ban cell phones from Texas public school classrooms. State Rep. Caroline Fairly believes it will help test scores and help combat bullying. The bill is currently in committee. There is a bipartisan bill in the Texas House that would ban all cell phones in public school classrooms. HB 1481, co-authored by State Rep. Caroline Fairly (R-Amarillo), is currently in the House Public Education Committee. The bill would require classrooms to designate a secure, out-of-sight area to keep phones during instructional times. FOX 4's Steven Dial talked to Fairley about the bill and the impact it could have on schools. What they're saying State Rep. Caroline Fairly: "We have heard from so many teachers who have said, you know, we need the state to kind of have our back on this issue because we're in the classroom picking up phones and ending up being the bad guy when it comes to this policy." FOX 4's Steven Dial: "Why do you think it's so important to to restrict cell phone access in the classroom?" Fairly: "There's really three critical issues that are really important when you look at this piece of legislation. First is the student academic outcome. Second is the mental health aspect. And then third is classroom management for our teachers. When you look at all of those across the board, we are targeting being sure that our kids go to school to focus on academics, but we also protect them. You know, the amount of cyberbullying that's being cited in these schools is it's gone up so much more." Dial: "Some North Texas school districts have implemented or are testing out a cellphone ban. How can the enforcement happen if this becomes law?" Fairly: "We've been really careful with our legislation to allow for as much local control as possible. I think it's really important to address this. And so you're right, about 20, 25 school districts, to my knowledge, have already started implementing this and they're seeing test scores increase. They're seeing student interactions with the teachers and even other peers is going way better than it was before. But when you talk about enforcement, the reality is, we've allowed in the bill for the school to adopt their own disciplinary policy. And so again, it's back to local control, like we want the school districts to make the best disciplinary policy they see fit." Dial: "I know it's a rare word in Austin: bipartisan. This bill has bipartisansupport. Can you just talk about why so many lawmakers are saying, hey, we're at a point where this is something that's needed." Fairly: "When you talk about policy and even politics in Texas, we tend to sometimes see polarization on two different sides and there's a lot of middle ground policy that both parties agree on. I'm encouraged that this is one of them. We have a wide variety of members who have co-authored this bill and I think it's because on both sides, both parties are realizing whether it's the mental health component, whether it's the classroom management, the teachers need support from the state, and also student academic outcomes, both parties agree. I think for the most part, that we want our kids to have the best education in Texas. The 5.5 million kids we have in Texas, we want it to be good." Dial: "What would your pushback be to a parent who says, I want to be able to contact my child in the event there's an emergency going on?" Fairly: "When you talk about school shooters, most officers that are experts in this field, we spent a lot of time talking to them. They would say we would suggest that the last thing you want is probably a kid on their phone during a school shooting. Yesterday in testimony, we had a lot of people talk about, even from a parental perspective, that it's as much of an emotional issue, that you want your kid and immediately to talk to them. When you think about a school shooter, as horrible as that is, when 30 7th graders are on the phone calling 911, videotaping, they're creating noise, which is a target for the shooter. So I think that we just have to be mindful of how we address this, because it is important. I'm encouraged that we have another really big priority bill that addresses school shooting. My bill is more about phones being up and away, but there's another piece of legislation that is about schools adopting policy so that next time, if there's a school shooter, we have a plan and process in place." Dial: "Is there a state funding component to this?" Fairly: "We have been really mindful. It is very important to me to not have unfunded mandates. I mean, I live in a rural part of Texas, and so there's a lot of issues where bills are passed, and they're not funded, and it's not fair to put that burden on our school districts. So I've been working really closely with Chair of Appropriations to be sure that if we need to allot for some funding, it will be there to be sure if schools want the option to purchase a pouch, that there's some funding provided for them to do that, because, again, this is about allowing school districts to adopt the policy that they see fit for the funds to be up, in a way. Texas is so diverse. I mean, so diverse. I represent a rural district, but when you look at your urban areas, there's thousands of kids that attend school versus mine, maybe a few hundred and so there will be funding provided. If we see that, there's a need to be sure that we do support these school districts. It's really important that we do keep that a priority." You can watch Texas: The Issue Is on FOX on Sunday nights or anytime on FOX LOCAL. The Source Information in this article comes from FOX 4's interview with State Rep. Caroline Fairly (R-Amarillo).
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Lawmakers looking to ban cellphones in Texas classrooms
AUSTIN (Nexstar) — On Tuesday, the Texas House Committee on Public Education first laid out State Rep. Caroline Fairly's, R-Amarillo, House Bill 1481 — banning cellphones in school during instructional hours. Despite being left pending in committee, the bill has broad bipartisan support, with over half the Texas House listed as co-authors. '[For] the generation I'm in it's very real, it's here, it's now,' Fairly said. At 26, Fairly is the youngest Republican woman in the history of the Texas House. 'The reality is our generation is more depressed, anxious, less focused and more distracted than ever before,' she said. HB 1481 simply requires school districts to 'adopt policies prohibiting students from usingpersonal wireless communication devices during instructional time,' and to 'designate a secure, out-of-sight area for the storage of personal wireless communication devices.' All other aspects of the bill, including the punishment for students violating the phone-free policy, would be up to the districts. For some, that's still too much overreach from the state government. 'I'm a mom of three kids, two of them have cellphones, they're an absolute problem,' Tarrant County GOP Precinct Chair Hollie Plemons said during public testimony on Tuesday. 'But this is something that needs to be handled locally.' However, Fairly believes this bill would take pressure off the teachers as students would blame the state government for new policies. 'The amount of reinforcement we have gotten back from school teachers, ISD members, who have said 'we need help on this. The teachers are [treated as] the bad guys, they don't want to come back to school and teach because they're used to taking away phones,'' she said. 'This is a practical way for us to come in and support our teachers.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
