HOUSTON — Cell phones will be prohibited at Madison High School starting Monday, according to Houston ISD.
The district said there were at least half a dozen fights on campus this week, centered around cellphones, and because of that, students will no longer be able to use them while on campus.
Videos of some of the fights, some showing brutal beatdowns, were shared with KHOU 11 by Madison students.
“There were a lot of fights that happened," said senior Amba Adoghe. "It was mostly the same people.”
The same people with one root cause -- cellphones.
Starting Monday, if a student brings a cellphone to school, they will have to turn the phone in at the front office at the start of the day and pick it up at dismissal.
"Overall, I think it's not fair at all," said Veronica Vargas, an older sister of a Madison high student.
"...parents need to be able to contact their children if there is something going on," Adoghe said.
On Friday, several students walked out in protest of the new cellphone police, forcing an immediate lockdown.
“They are making a lot of rules that they don’t know how to enforce," Adoghe said. "They’re putting more restrictive, more oppressive rules that with stricter consequences that everyone knows is really not going to play out well.”
District officials said more HISD police will present at Madison High School next week to keep everyone safe.
Read the district's full statement that was released to parents on Friday after the school went on lockdown:
This is an important message for families of students at Madison High School from Principal Contreras. Our school is currently on lockdown due to concerns over recent fights that have occurred on campus.
As you know, we communicated yesterday that, beginning on Monday, students will not be allowed to use their cell phones – at any time – while they are inside the school building. Cell phones have been at the center of fights that have broken out at our school. In an effort to keep our students and staff safe, any student who brings a phone to school will need to turn the phone in at the front office at the start of the school day and pick up the phone at dismissal.
Some students who are angry about this policy have caused disruptions on campus today, prompting the lockdown that is in place. We have additional support from the HISD South Division as well as additional officers from HISD Police at our school as we work to keep everyone safe. Again, this has been an important message from Madison High School Principal Contreras.