Cell phones in North Texas classrooms up for debate in Austin in January

The days of students taking their cell phones to class may soon be coming to an end. Lawmakers return to Austin in January when they will debate banning cell phones in public schools.

So far Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, and California have either limited or banned cell phones in K-12 schools.

Some districts in North Texas have already taken that step with more to come.

Take for example Robert T. Hill Middle School in Dallas. They’ve banned cell phones in class for five years and have seen test scores go up and behavior problems go down.

When lawmakers return to Texas, they’ll debate House Bill 515 which requires every district in the state to have a policy banning electronic during the school day.

"Our kids are desperate for us to pull them out of this black hole of addiction that they've fallen into. Most teens are spending upwards of five hours a day on social media," said Texas Rep. Ellen Troxclair (R-Austin).

NBC 5 spoke to the author of the bill, Austin Republican Ellen Troxclair, on Lone Star Politics. She filed the bill after reading about a consistent increase in mental health issues: self-harm and depression since the launch of social media.

"Well, you know, there's a reason that we don't send kids to school with packs of cigarettes, right? So when you cross the line from something that is truly addictive, that is truly causing social harm," Troxclair said.

The pushback in the halls of the capitol may come from major cell phone companies like Apple and Google and social media companies like Meta, X, and TikTok but maybe the strongest opposition may come from parents who are used to constant communication with their children throughout the day.

The details will be fleshed out in mid-January when the session starts.