TEXAS — The Texas Education Commissioner is calling for a ban on cellphones in schools. Commissioner Mike Morath told state lawmakers this week they should pass legislation next year to keep students from being able to use phones in public schools across the state.

“Cellphones are extremely harmful for student learning. If it were in my power, I would have already banned them in all schools in the state. So I would encourage you to consider that as a matter of public policy going forward for our students and our teachers,” Morath said during a Senate Education Committee hearing. 

Morath’s comments come as a national debate over banning cellphones in schools plays out. People who support such bans say the devices distract students from learning and are harmful to children’s mental health. But some worry not allowing students to have them prevents them from being able to communicate with their parents during an emergency.

A number of Texas school districts already have some sort of ban in place.

On this week’s “Inside Out” segment, former Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, and former state Rep. Mark Strama, D-Austin, weighed in on the debate and what it would mean for lawmakers to legislate such a ban. 

Click the video link above to watch the full segment.