“Our mindset was, ‘We can eliminate a major distraction, then our student achievement should improve.’ And it certainly did.”
SAN ANTONIO — On Sunday, Gov. Greg Abbott signed House Bill 1481 into law. The legislation bans cell phones and other personal communication devices in classrooms, beginning next school year.
But one San Antonio high school is ahead of the curb, having run a pilot program this past year and taken away phones from students during class.
O’Connor High School Principal Robert Martinez says that at the end of the 2022-2023 school year, one of the biggest concerns from teachers were cell phones and the distractions they caused in the classroom.
”Our mindset was, ‘OK, we can eliminate a major distraction that our student achievement should improve,'” Martinez said. “And it certainly did.”
Martinez says as students walked into class, they would put their phones away in cases located in the classroom, eliminating what he calls the “weapon of mass distraction.”
The principal says it worked. Students started paying more attention and finishing assignments quicker.
“Our early data showed that we had 1,000 less failures at the semester in terms of credits. So that, again, saved a lot of time for our teachers in terms of having to reteach,” he said. “And then our state data, the EOCA STARR testing, our numbers were at the top of the district.”
Martinez says STARR test results also showed major improvement, with more students meeting and mastering subjects.
Pupil behavior also improved: There was a 50% reduction in fights, and truancy also went down.
“What we’d see in the past is some of the kids would be in class, and they would text their friends and be like, ‘Hey, meet me over here.’ Now they don’t have that opportunity because they’re just in class, they’re paying attention to the teacher.”
Apart from eliminating distractions from learning, when lawmakers passed the legislation, some argued cell phones were also affecting students’ mental health.
O’Connor students told KENS 5 they had mixed feelings about the policy.
“I do feel like it did take some of the distractions away, and it made us actually do our work.” Said Dalton Blake, said one O’Connor graduate.
The students we spoke with felt there needed to be some middle ground, like getting your phone back when your done with your work, and struggled with the policy.
“Most of the time it was just annoying not having my phone, not really wanting to be there,” said Jayden Contreras.
The new law goes further than the pilot program implemented at O’Connor. Schools will now have two options: Completely ban the devices from school property or store them away during school hours.
School districts have 90 days to adopt a policy.