When Will New Texas Law Now Banning Phones In School Take Effect?

Austin, Texas sure was busy the first half of 2025 with the legislative sessions passing hundreds upon hundreds of bills, and Governor Greg Abbott probably had to ice his wrist signing more than 600 new Texas laws into existence before Sunday ended.

Read More: House Bill 274 Would Give Texas Control Over District Of Austin

The full roster of new laws may not actually be complete because Governor Abbott has called for a special session to convene in Austin next month after the 4th of July holiday to revisit 26 bills that were vetoed by the governor.

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Why did Texas ban student phone use during school hours?

One new law that is dialing up all kinds of opinions is in regards to student use of mobile devices while on public school campuses during school hours. The general premise behind the phone ban is to remove operator error from the educational system.

I have three kids and only the eldest has a mobile phone, but he is not allowed to even take the device to school, let alone be distracted by or tempted to use it when 100% of the focus should be committed to learning.

Why is banning mobile technology so important for school aged children?

One of the skills that is being delayed the most is not even the classroom instruction, but instead how to develop soft skills when working and communicating with other people because kids spend all their free or downtime with their heads buried into a device instead of interacting with other people.

Read More: Temple ISD Expands Mobile Device And Phone Ban to More Students

Work places have had mobile phone bans in place for years because it is widely known to be a huge distraction and hindrance to productivity. According to the attached video, the law goes into effect on September 1st, but why did it take until now to come to the same conclusion about mobile device use for kids?