A bill in the Texas House would require students who bring cell phones to school to lock them in a school-provided case, pouch or bag during the school day.
Is that a good idea? To get the ball rolling, I asked a parent and a teacher (who’s also my husband) what they think.
Jyoti Kapur, pediatrician and mother: Limiting cell-phone access would be good. As a pediatrician, I have a lot of interest in children’s mental and emotional health. Cell phone usage is a big issue with that, on both a national and international level. That’s why my children don’t have cell phones. All the data, studies and evidence are in favor of limiting phone use in schools.
Randall Patterson, Houston-area high school teacher: Cell phones keep students from interacting with each other. They use them to avoid the awkward moments we all grow from. In the halls between classes, when two students might have made eye contact, they’re instead looking at their phones. And it’s the same in the classroom. The phone is the friend of first resort.
But plenty of other people oppose such bans. In one Houston ISD school, students staged a walkout last year over a cell phone ban.
Now it’s your turn. Tell us what you think and how the issue plays out in your own life. We’ll feature the best answers in an article on Tuesday, and a Chronicle editorial writer or reporter might call you when they’re working on the subject
