Student Voices on HB1481- "The Cell Phone Ban"

We’re thrilled to welcome three incredible Argyle ISD seniors — Kevin Cantrell, Emerson Payne, and Sunnie Fenoglio — to the podcast! In this episode, we dive into the real-time impact of House Bill 1481, exploring how it’s shaping student experiences right here in AISD. We’ll unpack what the law means, how our Argyle representatives voted, and what we’re already seeing in our schools as we wrap up the first quarter.

💬 Coming up next: our November Q&A episode — powered by you! We want to hear your questions about the legislative process, education-related bills, or the advocacy cycle. Submit your questions here: https://forms.gle/25khNc23HvcEgiNE6

We can’t wait to hear from you — and as always, thank you for joining us as we bridge the gap from Capitol to the Classroom!

Sources referenced in this episode: 

📚https://legiscan.com/TX

📚https://capitol.texas.gov/

📚 https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/states-banning-cellphones-schools/story?id=125515186

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:07

Hey everybody, this is Maddie from Capital to the Classroom. We are so excited to have you back. I'm here with Katie and Steven ready to talk about HB 1481 aka the cell phone bill. But we will talk about it's not just cell phones.

SPEAKER_01 0:26

It's not. It's not. It is it is a plethora of items. And I'm going to say this now and give credit to one of my assistant principals, Philip Humphreys, who basically said it's anything electronic that's not a Chromebook that basically falls under the scope of this bill, which I didn't know until he said that. And I thought, wow, that was just the simplest way anybody's put it.

SPEAKER_05 0:47

Yeah. Like that includes pagers, paging devices, radio devices, walkie-talkies. That includes earbuds, headphones, gaming devices, because there could be messaging or a communication feature on there. Of course, cell phones, flip phones. So you can't go get a flip phone from the store. That still includes that. So yeah. There's a lot of different devices.

SPEAKER_04 1:11

No burner phones.

SPEAKER_05 1:12

No. No. Nope.

SPEAKER_04 1:14

None of that. We before we started, wanted to just thank you guys so much for the response that we got from our first episode. This is way out of all of our comfort zones. And so we were pushing ourselves and we're really grateful for the feedback and positive feedback, but also got some really good constructive feedback. So we're happy to be here. We're happy to dive into this with y'all today. Before we get started to our main portion, we're going to talk about just what is HB 1481. Katie and Steven just kind of talked about how it's not just phones, but any type of electronic device. So, Steven, I kind of wanted to ask you. You're the social studies guy.

SPEAKER_03 1:50

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 1:51

A lot of times people forget that they have a voice in situations like this, that we vote for the people who vote on these bills.

SPEAKER_01 1:59

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 1:59

And so, how could we find out where our own personal reps voted in regard to 1481? But also just in general, like if I wanted to see how they voted on vouchers or something like that, how could I figure out that is a great question, Maddie.

SPEAKER_01 2:13

And you can find all that information as I did for this bill through TLO or Texas Legislature Online. And then there was another one called Legiscan. But you can, it's so encompassing. I don't think I really know how everything works, but you can search by bill and where it originated and kind of go through. And it's overwhelming if you look one up. And this was a prime example that just goes through all the steps we talked about last time. But for our people in Argyle ISD, and if you ever go through and you look up a bill and then you see the vote, whether it's the second or third time, if you click it, it will show you who was the yes and the nays. So I'm looking right here in the house, and I believe I have the four state reps that serve our district in some way, shape, or form. And so everything I'm about to say is literally right there on the website. And you can see that Representative Bumgarner and Representative Hopper both were yeses both times the bill was voted on on the House floor. You can see that Representative Hayes was yes on the second read, but then he was a no on the third and final read. And then, of course, Representative Mitch Little was a no for this bill on both of the two votes in the second and third reading. So there was at least how it worked out on the House side. And again, I even broke down further where you can see in the House there were 128 yeses, 17 no's, five that either were not voting or they abstained. And that was just on that third reading. So that breaks it all down for you. And then same with the Senate, if you go through there, but the Senate was interesting on this one because if I read this correctly, they had it and they just decided to send it straight to the third reading. And you can see there probably the reason why was all 31 voted yes for this bill and zero no's. And of course, Senator Tam Parker, who is ours, was a yes. And so from the third reading in April and then in June, it was eventually signed by Governor Abbott and then immediately became the law and then gave districts a handful of months to basically figure out the parameters for what it was going to look like. But yeah, all that was public record and is.

SPEAKER_04 4:40

I also think it's good to go back to what we talked about in the last episode of before we get to July and August when we're angry or feel a certain way about a bill, knowing where your people stood. So then in the future, you can know who to reach out to to give them your opinion because they are supposed to be serving us. And so I think that point just kind of goes back to if you have a certain opinion about a specific bill, those are the people that we need to go to. And then you can follow up and see how they voted. And then you can know, just be a little bit more knowledgeable in November when you go to the polls. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:15

For sure. And somebody has a fun fact.

SPEAKER_04 5:18

I have a fun fact.

SPEAKER_01 5:19

Yes, you do.

SPEAKER_04 5:20

Okay. So we haven't introduced our uh special amazing guests yet, but we have some of Steven's students here to talk to us about the how the cell phone bill has impacted them. So I thought this was interesting because you guys are Gen Z, right? Okay. So they're nodding, you can't see, but they are proud that they're the author of this bill. Her name is Caroline Farley, and she is the youngest female Texas representative elected. She, when she was elected, she was 26 years old. She's the youngest representative in Texas history who's a female to be elected. And she is the person who authored this bill. So a bunch of different representatives signed on to it with her, but in essence, in Simpleman's terms, she had the idea. She was like, I'm gonna do this. So um I just thought that was interesting because she's Gen Z and a lot of the uproar.

SPEAKER_01 6:06

I I would not have guessed that.

SPEAKER_04 6:07

Yeah, I I thought it was very interesting.

SPEAKER_05 6:10

Wow, Maddie, I love that. I didn't even realize that. Can you dive more into why she authored this bill and what made her so passionate about making it a law?

SPEAKER_04 6:20

Yeah, for sure. I feel like it's been more common around the United States. I saw a graphic a few weeks ago on Instagram of just all of the United States and how many states have adopted different this specific bill of the cell phone ban or the technology ban. A lot of times states will follow each other's lead. And I think that the the majority of the reasons are to just to reduce distractions, improve like student focus, making sure that they're actually engaging not just with the learning, but each other to promote one uh mental health. I know cyberbullying has been a really big issue. Even when I was teaching middle school, it was like constant issues with phones or someone said this, someone said that, Snapchat, all of those things. Encourage kids to be social again. And again, just to keep up with what other people are doing, which I have figured out as we've like gotten deeper into all this legislative stuff. It's all much trend based. So if one state's doing it, then another state will usually follow suit if it's having the specific impact that legislators want. So that is why. But on that note, Mr. Steven is gonna introduce our special guest.

SPEAKER_05 7:30

I'd love to hear what the kiddos think of this.

SPEAKER_01 7:33

Something tells me some people might start calling me that. Okay, yes. So Mr. We all have permission to call him Mr.

SPEAKER_04 7:38

Steven.

SPEAKER_01 7:39

Oh.

SPEAKER_04 7:39

I'm just kidding.

SPEAKER_01 7:40

It's like when you are you still see your teachers in public and you're like, I can't call them by their first name. It just doesn't hit right. No, I've I'm still that way to this day. But yeah. Okay, so we are blessed and privileged to be joined by three students from Argyle High School who are all also former students of mine. And I think the cool thing to bring up is two of the three of you also serve on Dr. Carpenter's Superintendent's Advisory Council. So you obviously will have some great insight for all this, but I'll go around and introduce everybody. But when we thought about this opportunity, all three of you, like it was not difficult to put you in my mind for this, just from the way you composed yourself as a former student of mine, and the way you handle yourself on campus is professional, courteous, and you guys bring a smile to my face every time I see you. So I'm gonna start with the person to my left. This is Emerson Payne, who is a senior. Do you want to say anything about yourself real quick?

SPEAKER_02 8:43

Hello, I'm Emerson. I'm a senior at Argyll High School, and I've gone here since kindergarten.

SPEAKER_01 8:48

Wow, you're gonna be in that cool picture at the end of the year.

SPEAKER_02 8:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:51

That's amazing. I didn't know that. Okay, and then across from me is Mr. Kevin Cantrell. Hello, Kevin.

SPEAKER_00 8:58

Hello, I'm also a senior at Argyll High School, and I'm very honored to be invited on this podcast today. So thank you.

SPEAKER_01 9:05

You bet. We're honored to have you. And finally is the one and only Sonny Fenolio from Argyle High School. And Sonny, it's good to see you and good to have you here. Would you like to share anything?

SPEAKER_03 9:18

I'm Sunny Fanolio. I'm also a senior, and I've also gone to Argyle since kindergarten.

SPEAKER_01 9:24

Okay. Have you have you not, Kevin?

SPEAKER_00 9:26

No, this is my fifth year.

SPEAKER_01 9:27

This is your fifth year. Okay. I was going to ask when that was. Okay, awesome. We got some lifers in here. Okay. Well, again, it's so good to have you all. And again, we've said this so many times already, but we want to know your feelings and your thoughts on all this. So we're, I'm just going to kind of jump into it. And you guys can respond in any order, totally up to you. But how about over the summer when this bill was going on and it was being debated because I'm sure everybody heard it. And then when it finally was signed in June, what were just your initial reactions as going to be high school seniors?

SPEAKER_02 10:00

At first, I almost didn't believe it.

SPEAKER_01 10:03

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 10:03

And I was really skeptical on how they were going to enforce this law because they always try to, you know, make the phone pockets, take our phones away, but I wasn't sure how they were going to make sure people follow this law.

SPEAKER_00 10:15

Yeah, I was really confused how they were even going to implement this because it just seemed like impossible to imagine a school day without your phones. So this seemed like huge, like a huge change that wouldn't have been possible.

SPEAKER_03 10:28

Yeah, for sure. I just thought it was gonna be a huge change and like almost an inconvenience because contacting our parents like outside of school was gonna be much harder, obviously. And I also thought the school day was just gonna feel a lot longer. A lot longer because that free time that we have at the end of our classes. We're just I don't have anything to do to end up.

SPEAKER_01 10:53

And so I guess if we're if we're nine weeks in at this point, how do you feel? Do you feel different or do you feel the same now than maybe you did when you first found out about the bill?

SPEAKER_03 11:09

I thought it was gonna be a lot worse. Okay for sure. Like I like had a very negative mindset about it during the summer, but it's not as bad as I thought it was.

SPEAKER_05 11:20

Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_00 11:21

I would say I'm definitely surprised like how they implemented it and that it was effective because you definitely don't see people on their phones. So it was successfully like put in place, which I was surprised about. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:36

I think you asked me to come on this podcast because you thought I was very against this law, which I was at the time. Yeah. But I've come around on it. Okay. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 11:45

Can you elaborate a little more on that?

SPEAKER_02 11:48

Yes. So at first I was just shocked, like everyone else. And I was just confused. And it was a big change for everyone. And I wasn't able to contact my friends at school. I felt very disconnected from everyone, but I think we've all learned how to communicate. Like we have our Google Docs, we share our Google Docs with friends and we'll text on there. Yeah. And so we found ways to communicate. And I feel like I'm more productive at school with now. Like I've read books and I would never do that with my phone.

SPEAKER_04 12:22

Okay, so that's interesting. And it it makes me have a question. Do your friends feel the same way as you? Like, have they also come around to the idea of not having their phone during the school day, or do you still, all of y'all, have people in your circle who are against or just really needing their phone?

SPEAKER_02 12:40

I would say there's definitely a little bit of both. There is still complaining about the law, but overall, I think it's gotten a lot better now that we're in week nine of school.

SPEAKER_00 12:52

Yeah, I would say initially I was pretty against the law and still pretty much am. And I feel like a lot of my friends also feel the same way. Where we while we have adapted to find like other methods to work around the law, I would say like the inconveniences it's created, we're still pretty against it.

SPEAKER_03 13:11

Yeah, like there's definitely some people that it's just so much of a change because they're used to being on their phone 24-7, but like a good chunk of us have like really come around to it and like found ways to make school more or make it more enjoyable than it was.

SPEAKER_01 13:31

Do you think people are addicted to their devices?

SPEAKER_00 13:34

I don't think so. I mean, some people. In my experience, I feel like it wasn't really an issue. Like now I could be, it could be because like I'm in AP classes, yeah. It's just different students. I just haven't like witnessed it being a huge issue, like not an addiction. It wasn't really a distraction. I mean, I know there were instances, but not around me.

SPEAKER_02 13:58

Yes, I will say I thought when this law was put forth, I that people were gonna get their phones taken all the time. It was gonna be a big problem. But from what I've seen, there hasn't been that many people gotten that have okay.

SPEAKER_01 14:14

So the other thing we talked about it, you know, if we think people are addicted or not, but what's what are the bigger areas like the cafeteria look like during a lunch of with trying to police or make sure that you know people are in compliance and nobody's doing anything? Like, can you ex explain and elaborate on like what has just lunch been like?

SPEAKER_03 14:37

No one really has their phone because there's so many people that people don't even like want to risk it because they know that they're gonna get their phone taken.

SPEAKER_01 14:48

And have we I feel like I remember at the beginning of the year again, Mr. Philip Humphreys was trying to really like do things to get people to, you know, talk and do some other things they wouldn't normally do. Can you, any of you, elaborate on some things that have just been happening?

SPEAKER_02 15:04

Yes, I well I sit at the same lunch table every day. I wish I reached out more, but it is nice to talk to your friends for that full 30 minutes and no one getting on their phones. It's nice to just have that time just to have a conversation.

SPEAKER_00 15:21

Yeah, I do notice like more just interaction between students where like the even like urge to go on your phone is not possible anymore. So yeah, you'll talk to people around you more. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 15:35

I was kind of gonna say the opposite. I feel like at the lunch table that I sit at, even last year when we did have our phones, everyone was kind of interacting. And yeah, it was like within the lunch table and we weren't reaching out, everyone was still talking to each other. It wasn't like everyone was just sitting on their phones. You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_00 15:57

Yeah, I know I think I know what you mean. Yeah, I agree with that. And I would also say that phones like sometimes did create like an opportunity for a reaction or like interacting with students, like sharing videos, or just like playing games, laughing with each other, like all those things came from being on like social media or your phone.

SPEAKER_01 16:16

Okay. I agree. Okay. That leads us to a question of discussion of you know, if if your state legislators were the ones who put this together, then what if we had a way to put them all in the room here? And what would you say to them if all of them on that list that we talked about earlier were present? And anybody can feel free to get it started.

SPEAKER_00 16:41

Well, I would like to say that, like in my student perspective, I never really saw the phones as like a huge distraction or inhibitor to learning. And while I know it does happen, I don't think the bill was the proper way to address this, as the bill is just like lumping together all students and punishing all like schools and students for selective situations where phones were an issue. And there won't really be like another time in our lives where we're separated from our phones for like eight hours during the workday. And so it doesn't make sense to implement that now. And like instead, we could focus like our put the focus on like teaching responsible technology usage and allowing for like varied implementation of the law for where it's actually needed. And like it's unavoidable that we're entering a world of technology where we're gonna be using it throughout our lives. And so we should embrace this by integrating tech into our education and learning how to properly use it rather than just counteractively and blatantly removing it from schools.

SPEAKER_01 17:46

Those are all very valid points.

SPEAKER_02 17:48

That's exactly how I felt about it at first. But I think that you can't focus on just the good because there is kids in class that are not gonna get on their phone, they're gonna do their school work, but then there's also a lot of kids that aren't gonna do that. So yeah, but I totally get that, and that's how I felt.

SPEAKER_00 18:07

Yeah, and that's why I feel like there should be more like varied implementation or like giving schools the freedom to choose how they uh go about addressing this issue because like it does vary student to student and between classes and between even schools. So just doing a statewide you know ban didn't make a whole lot of sense.

SPEAKER_01 18:30

Anything to add?

SPEAKER_03 18:33

I just kids will still get distracted on their Chromebooks because you said that it was like all technology, but the Chromebooks are still like there's still YouTube, there's still stuff that kids are gonna find that's not doing their work. So like the focus kind of isn't there. It's just like kids have to go in a roundabout way to get distracted.

SPEAKER_01 18:58

So maybe I mean I know we talked about this earlier, but why do you think they chose then do you have a thought or a theory on why just phones for the the most important part? Like why would they say it's kids that are anywhere from what six to eighteen years old? Like what would be their big focus behind that?

SPEAKER_02 19:21

Well, I think that's the biggest distraction in our generation. Like for when you were in high school, what would you say the biggest distraction?

SPEAKER_01 19:29

Oh, the biggest distraction? Probably, I don't know. I think probably taking the time to write a handwritten note that you're gonna pass off to somebody in the hall with the little cool origami kind of stuff and whatnot. I mean, that was still a distraction. And I guess if you think of it that way, that's like a you're getting ready to send a text or an email at that point. And I think I feel like other than that, I remember maybe like cutting back on people trying to listen to music on like an ooh, an MP3 player or something like that. But yeah, I that's a that's a valid point. But that's yeah, I would that would be what I would say, at least when I was in school. I think that'd be the that's probably the biggest distraction.

SPEAKER_02 20:14

Yeah, just ways of communication, maybe.

SPEAKER_01 20:16

Yeah. And you know, I I'll I'll bring this up too, and I think Kevin, you kind of said it perfectly, but you know, I firmly believe it's our job to prepare you for college. And you all brought up a good point of you'll never be more like forced to be removed from it once you get out of this point. And so what would you say to your representatives if they were here and and that's what their uh reasoning was is oh, for all these things, would you offer anything else besides that?

SPEAKER_00 20:52

Well, I would say it doesn't make sense to just completely remove it. Instead, like let's focus on teaching how to use this like technology responsibly. Like I know with the rise of AI, like it's unavoidable that it's happening. We're gonna be using it for the rest of our lives. So let's how let's embrace it and let's learn how to actually use it properly.

SPEAKER_04 21:14

Okay. So one of the things I noticed, especially when I taught middle school, this was before the bill was passed, obviously. Now I'm in elementary again, but the phone drama, the drama that surrounded the phone was the biggest distraction. It was like we would have all of these things go down during like a passing period or during lunch that then they would bring to class. Do you guys feel like that is something that you've seen less of? Or do you feel like just because you're seniors in high school, you don't really see that as much anymore? I mean, going back to your point, you guys are seniors. You are definitely more regulated than a 13-year-old middle schooler, right? You have a little bit more emotional intelligence to know like this isn't worth it, or any of those types of things. But from a teacher perspective, I could see why a ban on cell phones would increase, like cut back on the distractions, not just with the physical phone, but with everything else that comes with it.

SPEAKER_02 22:07

Well, we only have this law for a year. We only have to deal with this for a year. But I think the younger students, I do think that you will see less drama with the phones, yes. But I don't see a lot of drama just in my friend group, and there's drama, but it's definitely it definitely happened more when we were younger.

unknown 22:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:30

And yeah, you could take phones like out of schools and like in an attempt to limit drama, but that still goes on outside of school. Like if you're trying to make an attack at cyberbullying, it's still gonna happen outside of school. I mean, this is only eight hours of the day, so kids are still gonna do like that's still gonna happen.

SPEAKER_03 22:48

Yeah, yeah. And if kids have something to say, they're gonna say it, whether that's through a phone or if it like they're physically communicating with someone.

unknown 22:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:58

And I don't know, I feel like at the end of the day, it probably comes back to one key word, which is safety, which is trying to ensure that the learning environment and everybody associated with it is as safe as possible and whatever different avenue that may look like. So that leads me to another question here. What if you could talk to students that are in the majority of states right now in this country that there is no cell phone ban or technology ban like we have? And what could you say to them or what would you want to say on that topic?

SPEAKER_00 23:39

Oh, it's all them definitely don't take your technology for granted. Like it's just simple things like smart watches, like wireless earbuds, like checking your phone for the time or like playing music on your phone, like all those things you don't really realize it until they're not available. So definitely just be mindful how much you actually are utilizing your phone. And if you realize that it is like an extreme amount where you're becoming dependent on it, then definitely be like mindful and conscious of that.

SPEAKER_02 24:09

Yes, I would say, because I know that many states are probably gonna adopt this law after Texas did, but I would say it's gonna be a shock, but you'll get used to it.

unknown 24:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 24:21

And like the main thing is just the school day feeling longer, but like actually being at school, it's not that bad. Like you're gonna think it's a lot worse than it actually is.

SPEAKER_01 24:33

Which is crazy because you know, as a teacher, and I sit here and and you sonny, you just mentioned that you know the school day feels longer. And I'm like, but our class times got shorter. And so I don't know about y'all, it feels like a whirlwind to me on some days to try to get everything finished. And so I guess maybe yeah, does it does it really make you know a 45-minute class period feel that much longer?

SPEAKER_03 24:59

The main thing for like me, I have a senior aid period, but in my other classes, I'm actually having to like grind out my work because it's 45 minutes. Right. But it's just during those, like the free time at the end of class or like those classes where I'm not doing anything, it feels so long.

SPEAKER_01 25:18

It it has made me like think about a couple student aides that I have, and like, yeah, that that does probably possess a bit of a a challenge or you know, I don't want to say temptation, but something that, you know, I'm sure that would make it feel longer. But I think some of them have other work they can do and other avenues to which to keep themselves occupied. But yeah, just I was just curious about that.

SPEAKER_05 25:44

All right, guys. So before we close out, we want to hear if you have any final thoughts or do you have any questions for us as the educators and administrators that are dealing with House Bill 4181 1481.

SPEAKER_01 26:00

All good. Throw out some numbers.

SPEAKER_05 26:02

Throw out some numbers. Do you have any questions or final thoughts?

SPEAKER_02 26:06

I don't.

SPEAKER_03 26:08

Yeah, that's great.

SPEAKER_05 26:09

We literally hit a bunch. Yeah. Sunny, what about you?

SPEAKER_03 26:13

I was just gonna say that because especially like with the older kids, we have so many commitments outside of school. So, like work, sports, all of that stuff, that taking away the phones and taking away that communication during school kind of limits everyone's social, like socially outside of school, everyone's doing things. So, like during school, when I'm having to just do my work and then sit in my class and figure out what to do with my free time instead of talking, it just kind of limits the social aspect of school.

SPEAKER_05 26:48

Yeah, that's fair.

SPEAKER_03 26:50

Kevin, what about you?

SPEAKER_00 26:52

Well, I wanted to add that like students do know we use our phones a lot. Like, we're aware of this, but it's not necessarily a bad thing. Like, I wish people would realize that this is just the way that our world works now, and we're becoming more digital. And like, even as phones were banned, students are still finding alternative methods, which shows we're capable of adapting. And so instead of fighting this inevitable growth in technology, we should adapt to it. And we are capable of doing so. However, I do have a question for y'all. Like, as teachers, I'm sure everybody is curious how y'all react to this and your thoughts on the ban.

SPEAKER_01 27:34

I guess I you go ahead. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 27:36

I will go first because I probably have the least amount to say, but I I was a little worried about it last year. We had more issues with the watches because, which is genius parenting hack that I'm putting in my back pocket. We would have people get their kids' watches with cellular cellular plans, but not a phone. And so they could tell their parents that they were on their way home with their watch. And so that was a really big concern for me of like managing it on the elementary level. But it has been a non-issue. Like they, we don't even, I barely think about it from day to day. And so I think that has been that was my biggest worry. The one thing that I've seen is the Bluetooth headphones, which we do see sometimes in elementary, and it was a very pleasant, like, we can't have those, it's part of the law. But again, that goes back to people thinking it's just cell phones or just whatever.

SPEAKER_01 28:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 28:29

Yeah. So I made the joke when we were planning for this that when I did the whole spiel on the first day of school, all of the elementary kids thought that they were going to jail, like if they had their phone out. And I was like, I mean, I was like, you're not going to jail, but there's consequences.

SPEAKER_05 28:42

And so there's just a little bit more fear in the babies. Yeah. And I know y'all brought up at the beginning of our conversation talking about how we would implement this and hold everybody accountable. And I think that making it the law is how we do. You know, in elementary, we don't see it as much. So I really don't have too much experience, but I feel for my high school colleagues that, you know, deal with it daily. But it's it's just easy to say. And like my thoughts are on it is that I was excited about this because I I do feel like kids having phones at certain ages are too young, especially our middle school. No, you seniors, definitely. Your Maddie spoke very eloquently on like y'all's brains are way more developed and easier to you're regulated better. But I I am in favor of the bill because I do feel like it helps reduce distractions. It's just, it's black and white. It's clear as day that no, you cannot have your phones. Like there's no ifs, ands, and buts about it. And so I just I think that made it better. But I don't know. Today, Kevin, you've kind of changed my mind on some things, and I really loved your perspective. And I would love to see you in action someday telling our legislators this because everything you just shared with us could easily be shared with our legislators too. And they want to hear students' perspectives. And I don't think enough students know that everything you told us today can and should be shared with them as well. Well, I suppose I'd love to hear an amendment to a bill that you could write. That was awesome.

SPEAKER_04 30:24

I remember sitting in training like summer and we were going over it and just thinking, okay, this is so silly that they made a bill for kindergartners to not have their phones. And so I I definitely love that perspective of where, I mean, that's just good teaching, anyways. Like you're not going to punish the whole class if something is going wrong, you're going to find the issue and that student's going to have a consequence. And so I think that's very valid. And I think that's where we get to a point where we have to speak up for those specific things and say, like, this is this is how we could amend this to make it work and to make it serve its purpose. And I agree. I love tearing your perspective because I think that's legit. I think that there are so many kids who are just doing the right thing, who are not, you know, necessarily impacted in the day-to-day by their phones as much as other students are who are also amazing kids, but there's just this blanket law saying this is how it's going to be. And so I think that's a really great perspective. Shout out to Steven for getting these kids in.

SPEAKER_05 31:19

Yeah. And what are and what are we teaching them? You're right. Cell phones aren't going away. AI is not going away. So how can we teach you to use it appropriately?

SPEAKER_01 31:28

Yeah. I guess from my perspective, I don't know. I'm an old school believer too in that. Like if I'm doing my job, I I'm not even going to be on my phone because I'm busy. And I there will be times throughout the day where I mean, I I I can go sometimes a whole day without seeing my phone because I'm trying to teach and I'm trying to deal with this. And I've got a million things going on. So I guess to take it back at first when I saw it, I mean, yeah, I was in favor of it because it's the sad nature, and you guys probably understand what I'm talking about here, but some people just can't be trusted to do the right thing. And so I think that's what drove, like, okay, yeah, there's no gray area here. It's it's either it is or it isn't. And I think I was okay with it for that. But I think from my perspective at the high school, I mean, I haven't really thought about it that much. I think students are coming in and they're locking in and they're doing their job, and maybe the shorter class times has been a big part of that. But I personally haven't really had any challenges with it. It hasn't impacted what I do on a day-to-day basis, which was always funny too, because the kids were like, Welcome, you get to keep your phone, you know, like everything on the the first day. Like, oh yeah, guys, it only uh applied to you. But yeah, I I was in favor of and for it and you know, still am, but I think the points that each one of you has made are are certainly valid. And these people do need to know this because they're not in the room where you all are and we are on a daily basis. And I one of you just said it. And if if they don't know, nobody's gonna tell them and they're never gonna know. And so I think that's super critical to be that voice for all those things. I think everything you guys said was spot on.

SPEAKER_04 33:23

Yeah, thank you guys so much for being here. I think going off of that, that's the whole purpose behind this project for Katie, Stephen, and I is to really bring awareness to the fact that our voices are not going to be heard unless we use them. A lot of our legislators have not stepped into a classroom or even know the specifics of the day-to-day. And we learned that when you talk to them, they are they want to hear what you have to say and they are going to listen. And if they don't follow up with action that is in support of us, then we know that there's just more work to do in the advocacy process. And so we're gonna just kind of wrap up this episode by letting you know that next month we're going to do a little question and answer because I know a lot of people have questions surrounding the process and all of the things. So after this episode is posted, there will be a link in our social media bios to a Google form if you have any questions about the advocacy process, whether it's in Argyle ISD or in Texas and what that looks like, what you could do if you want something explained, please don't hesitate to fill that form out and we will address it in our next episode. And we are actually gonna have Miss Brittany Ford on it from JRE. She's a fifth grade teacher, and she's gonna kind of help us out with that too. She's fabulous and she's kind of joining our efforts in this process, and we're excited to have her. So thank you so much for being here. We are so grateful for this community and can't wait to talk soon.

SPEAKER_01 34:58

Yeah, and thanks again to the three of you. And you're making the commitment to be here, and I'm super proud of every one of you for answering the call and stepping up here and using your voice to let things know that are impactful to you. So thank you.

SPEAKER_04 35:14

All right, we'll see you. Oh, oh, Emerson has something to say.

SPEAKER_02 35:16

Yes, thank you so much for having us, Mr. Orlovsky. You bet.

SPEAKER_01 35:20

Thank you for having us. No, thank you. Okay, I guess that's uh capital to the classroom. We are signing off. We'll see you all in November.

SPEAKER_05 35:27

Thank you for joining us. Bye, guys.

SPEAKER_04 35:30

Argyle.

SPEAKER_01 35:31

Eagle.