I shall refrain from the lament that it took a long time to do the right thing, so I will applaud school districts throughout Texas that are taking direct measures to restore some decorum in our public school classrooms.

They are ordering students to ditch their cell phones when the bell rings to start the school day.

They’re doing it here in Princeton, where I live. Fort Worth is as well. Same for Dallas. And same for a whole lot of other districts acting on legislation approved by the 2025 Texas Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott.

Classrooms must be a place where students are focused solely on the lessons being taught. Teachers deserve that respect. Sadly, they don’t get it when students are sitting in their chairs, cell phones in their laps as they send messages back and forth. The law empowers individual school districts to use whatever disciplinary measures they deem appropriate to punish violators.

And to be sure, this initiative drew plenty of resistance from parents who insist foolishly that they must be in contact with their little darlin’s 24 hours each day. As Col. Sherman T. Potter would say: Buffalo bagels!