WACO, Texas (KXXV) — House Bill 1481 would ban the use of all personal communication devices for students in Texas schools. Fifth grade science teacher Jocelyn Mancio and local licensed social worker Carlos Gutierrez speak on the impacts of this in the classroom and how this impacts the brain.
- House Bill 1481 would ban our phones and other communication devices in the classroom
- The bill will go in effect for the 2025 school year
- The bill will also leave consequences up to the school if the policy is violated.
Watch what Jocelyn and Carlos tell Heather about the bill's impact:
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
House Bill 1481 passed both the Texas House and Senate and is awaiting the governor's signature.
It bans the use of all personal communication devices for students in Texas schools, including smart and flip phones, tablets, smart watches and any other communication device.
Fifth grade science teacher Jocelyn Mancio at Rapoport Academy tells 25 News this would 100% cut down on classroom distractions, allowing kids to stay focused on their lessons.
“We live in a world where there's constant, that increase of just, you have this increase of just these stories you want to watch on TikTok, on Instagram, and just what is the world doing? Kids may, have anxiety, you're like what is the next story or what is going on, but when you don't have phones, you have kids who are focused who may get bored and you know boring is it's actually a good thing,” Jocelyn said.
“Kids can see you in the eyes, you know, they’re focused and they're in the moment and so I think we need that. We really need that,” she added.
The bill is expected to go in effect this upcoming school year. It will also leave consequences up to the school if the policy is violated.
According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, teens spend an average of nine hours a day watching screens, leading to sleep problems, spending less time reading and having a harder time with stress and anxiety.
Licensed clinical social worker Carlos Gutierrez at ThriveWorks in Waco tells 25 News setting boundaries with your devices can make all the difference.
“Setting kind of that boundary of that place where we're kind of setting it aside or we're setting some hard limits on what we're using, whether that is from a formal setting in a school setting, whether that's a parent saying ‘hey we're doing one hour of screen time a day, two hours of screen time a day,’ just setting those limits and those boundaries I think is really just the key to success for developing a healthy relationship with phone usage,” Carlos said.
