They banned phones in classrooms. Now what?

A new school year is getting started. Students are looking up their schedules and packing up their bags. One thing they'll have to ditch this fall? Their cellphones.

Gov. Greg Abbott recently signed into law a policy we've long supported. House Bill 1481 requires public schools in Texas to adopt policies banning students from using personal devices like cellphones and smartwatches during the school day.

We won't pretend this will fix everything that ails public schools, but we expect it will lead to more learning and less distraction.

The next step is to consider the broader role technology should play in the classroom. Students all over use devices like laptops as part of their studies. We live in a world of digital technology, and teaching students to interact with it responsibly is important. But unnecessary distractions need to be reduced as much as possible.

Banning phones in classrooms is a part of that effort. School districts that have already done it have seen positive results. To name a few: Reclaiming instruction time, reducing discipline cases and improving social interactions.

Some districts require students to keep devices stored and out of sight throughout the school day. That won't be a robust enough policy for students who find a way to sneak their cellphones into class, but it's a start. And now schools have a state law to back them up.

Dallas ISD has taken a different approach. For elementary students, teachers will collect devices and keep them for the day. Middle and high school students will have to store them in sealed pouches.

Not for the first time, we point to Richardson ISD as a district from which others can learn. The district has had a cellphone-free policy in place since 2022, a district spokesperson said.

Eight of the district's schools — including all four of its high schools — require students to keep their cellphones in magnetically sealed pouches. In schools without the pouches, students have to keep their devices out of sight all day.

Superintendent Tabitha Branum told us the district doesn't have a lot of problems with students violating the policy.

"I think they know now, this is the expectation," she said.

The district's enforcement system helps with that. Richardson ISD doles out significant punishments for violators. By the second offense, penalties include in-school suspension.

The guidelines and penalties were softer during the first year of implementation, Branum said, but they've ramped up over time as a deterrent. That's a smart approach.

The powerful computers we all carry in our pockets have changed the way we live, sometimes to our detriment. We should do what we can to prevent phones from diluting our children's education and social lives.

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Previously:
• What the Trump administration is doing to cut off cash to drug cartels
• Political ads should be required to disclose AI use
• We all need a break from tipping fatigue The Dallas Morning News
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