The school year began with a major shift in Texas in communication, following the passing of House Bill 1481, which bans student use of personal devices like cell phones during school hours. As students adjust to this phone free learning environment, they are rediscovering and inventing new ways to communicate and socialize that rely on more traditional and direct methods.

Junior Robert Briggs enjoys a phone-free environment with his friends while laughing not only shows the improvement of communication, but also allowing him to reach academic achievement for this school year by his improving his grades. “This law has helped me because I am not on my phone as much. My grades have improved more than before,” Briggs said.

Junior Vincent Kidwell finds other ways to entertain himself and his friends by learning to play old school games together. “We like to do our work together and occasionally play card games together at lunch or whenever we can really,” Kidwell said.

As students still learn to adjust to the phone -learning environment, they are discovering new ways to communicate and socialize by relying on more traditional and direct methods.