How Bowie Has Been Affected by the Texas Phone Ban

Written by: William Castro (8th Grade) and Alexander Tucios (8th Grade)

The Texas phone ban has impacted schools drastically. Since the state made the ban, schools have been more strict about the usage of phones. In the past, students were able to have their phones in their backpacks in case they needed to contact their parents or someone else, but students took advantage of that and would use their phones during class, which influenced the Texas phone ban.

An example of this is our own school. They enforced the law to make it where if a student uses their device in a classroom, they get their phone taken up. If a teacher decides to let a student use their phone and not take it up, it could lead to a revocation of the teacher’s teaching license.

Even though the phone ban can help both teachers and students be able to teach and learn better without distractions, students and parents are complaining about the phone ban. Worries about the little to no communication with parents and their children are a major part of the complaints. Parents are worried that during a dangerous situation or emergency, their students won’t be able to communicate with them due to the phone ban.

We asked a parent of a student at Bowie Middle School how she felt about the phone ban. She said that she felt that the phone ban has both a positive and negative result. She thinks that the positive result is that the phone does not distract the students from learning in class. She said, “The phone ban prevents students from being stuck on their phone in class.” On the other hand, she thinks that the phone ban has a negative effect because it can cause her student to not be able to contact her in case of an emergency. She also said that the phone ban should stay but that students should be able to contact their parents when they need to. However, based on some research, students are safer in an emergency like a lockdown without a phone because it can light up or make a sound that can put the student in more danger and lead to something tragic.

Based on people’s opinions and the interview that we did, we think that the phone ban has overall impacted schools in positive ways. I say this because for teachers it is a positive that students don’t have their phones anymore due to the distractions they caused in class. Students also have been impacted in positive ways because their focus and performance in class have increased due to no distractions from their phones.