Backpacks, textbooks, folders, pencil bags, notebooks: these are the essential tools that have been carried around by middle and high schoolers for much of modern schooling. But in the past decade, one new staple has been added: cell phones. According to research from the Pew Research Center, nearly 95 percent of teenagers aged 13 to 17 have access to a smartphone.
On any phone there can be pictures, videos, text messages, social media apps, videogames and much more. For many people, their phones are not only their personal property, but an integral part of who they are. So for many students around the state, a ban on cellphones in school would be an unwelcome surprise.
Texas House Bill 515, or HB 515, introduced to the Texas House of Representatives in early March, is a proposed ban on cellphone use in public schools around the state. If passed, it would take effect in the 2025-2026 school year. Students would be required to store their phones away during the school day and would only be able to access them when the school day ends or if medically approved to use them for other reasons.
Similar legislation around phones in schools has been introduced and passed in other states. Florida passed a law in 2023 prohibiting phone use during class, becoming the first state to limit the use of phones during school hours. California passed a law in 2024 requiring all school districts to have developed their own policies limiting phone use by mid-2026.
However, as a private school, the school would not be subject to HB 515, even if it passed. With public school districts across the nation implementing policies restricting phone usage in schools, the school grapples with the unique challenges phones provide in multiple ways. Phone and technology use guidelines are outlined in the Lion Tracks, the official school rulebook, and individual teachers may enforce certain phone restrictions on their students.
According to Head of Upper School William Atkinson ‘95, the approach taken by the Upper School Office towards phone use during the school day on campus is aligned with the technology policy listed in Lion Tracks.
“When you’re on the school WiFi, you need to be following the school’s standards and expectations,” Atkinson said. “Devices must be used for academic purposes and necessary communications only, and there are certain approved locations (in which) you can use those devices. When you’re in these locations using devices, (they are for) academic purposes and necessary communications only as well and there are no headphones on campus.”
For general phone use in classrooms, Atkinson believes that they are only necessary when a teacher asks students to use their devices for an activity. He sees the classroom as a place for face-to-face interactions and conversations and as an environment in which students can engage in learning, something that he promotes during his English classes.
“Every class has different dynamics and different needs,” Atkinson said. “In my class there is really no need for a cell phone ever, and since it’s English we’re usually discussing a piece of literature, so we’re having face-to-face discussions around the Harkness table, which I think (is) incredibly profound and important. Or, we’re working and writing individually, whether that be a reflection, an essay or an exercise. There’s no need for a phone to be present in my classroom, so it should be put away.”
In and out of the classroom, however, it is not uncommon for students to run astray of these rules. Occasionally, students use devices for non-academic purposes or outside of designated locations, in which case Atkinson believes that appropriate action should be taken.
“We always enforce the technology policy, so anytime a phone is out not in a designated area, that’s an opportunity for a boy to learn more about the technology policy and a phone can be confiscated at that time,” Atkinson said. “It’s not a mystery if a phone is being held sideways. The good thing is if we ask a boy, I find in my experience, ‘Hey, it looked like you were on social media or playing a game,’ the boys are very forthcoming and that’s the expectation. There’s no need to inspect a phone, it’s a conversation and that is what we want.”
In classrooms, certain teachers may enforce restrictions on phones already, like chemistry instructor Jonathan Moody. For different teachers, there are different rules, but many tend to ask students to deposit their phones into a basket or some kind of container when a major assessment occurs.
“In my three chemistry classes, the expectation is that (the phone) is in the hall on a test day, but on a normal day, (students) are supposed to put it in a little caddy or bin at the front of the classroom and pick up it on the way out,” Moody said.
Apart from the Lion Tracks handbook, teachers can restrict phone usage within the classroom, serving as another mechanism for regulating and managing the issue of phones. This practice helps mitigate the problems that phones can create and enhances the learning experience on campus.
As phones become more and more prominent in the lives of students, school officials and legislators will have to grapple with the distractions they can provide. House Bill 515’s ban on phones may be a novel idea for many public schools in the state of Texas, but at the school, teachers and the school as a whole have set clear technology use guidelines that continue to adapt.
