In August, Gov. Greg Abbott signed SB 2420 and HB 1481 into law, banning the use of personal, handheld electronics in schools. Also written into this law was the banning of personal laptops, on the basis that they can text, communicate and access websites blocked on school-issued Chromebooks, such as Instagram or X.

However, the use of personal computers is not cracked down on nearly as much as phones. In almost every one of my classes, at least one student uses a personal laptop—nearly all of them MacBooks—and there has been little to no punishment for breaking the same law that is enforced so strictly with cell phones. This raises a simple question: why?

As a student with only a school-issued Chromebook, I can say confidently how frustrating it is that it is the only computer I have access to. Chromebooks have low battery life, load slowly and have system settings that are practically unchangeable. The Wi-Fi connection is unreliable, keys and touchpads break easily, and it often feels like half of all searchable websites are blocked, including some that are educational or necessary for learning. There have been times when teachers assign a website that works perfectly fine on their computers but is blocked on ours. The same is true for YouTube videos, educational or not.

Watching students in my classes use their MacBooks doesn’t make me angry. I completely understand it. If I had access to a MacBook, I would use it every chance I got, too. No blocked websites, no spending hours searching for an acceptable source because most sites are restricted and no emailing teachers late at night because YouTube randomly blocks the video titled “Early American Colonization” linked in an assignment.

Personal laptops aren’t just helpful for basic assignments, either. Throughout the year, students involved in newspaper and yearbook are expected to use programs such as InDesign and Photoshop to create pages, layouts and graphics that are essential to the success of school media. These programs are not supported on Chromebooks. Because of this, I can only work on pages when I have access to the Macs in the newspaper room, rather than whenever the work actually needs to be done. I chose not to get a MacBook because I expected this law to be taken seriously—but at this point, it feels like following it puts students at a disadvantage.

For obvious reasons, during tests and quizzes, everyone is required to use a school-issued Chromebook. Outside of testing, however, personal laptops make learning and completing assignments significantly easier.

While I don’t blame students for taking advantage of a rule that isn’t being enforced, the situation is frustrating for everyone else because of how uneven that enforcement is. While the rule exists on paper, it is largely ignored in practice. Students who can afford personal laptops are effectively exempt from the same restrictions placed on students who rely on school-issued Chromebooks. This creates two very different classroom experiences, even though everyone is supposedly following the same law.

Rules that are enforced selectively don’t teach responsibility or focus. Instead, they teach students that what matters most is whether or not you can afford a MacBook. That isn’t responsibility or discipline—that’s inequality. Those who have the advantage of having a personal laptop are effectively rewarded for breaking the rules. Meanwhile, those who are following the rules are left at a disadvantage and face the consequences.

Teachers will sometimes tell students to put their personal laptops away, but most of the time, nothing happens if they don’t. I’ve yet to see a MacBook actually taken away. At the same time, it’s hard to blame teachers. Enforcing a phone ban is simple: phones are small, obvious and easy to confiscate. Laptops, on the other hand, are expected in classrooms, and teachers already have far more to manage than checking which devices are school-issued every day. While strict enforcement during testing makes sense, doing so during regular class time is unrealistic. Whether teachers are turning a blind eye or quietly disagree with the law themselves, the result is the same: a rule that doesn’t match how school actually functions.

Personal laptops like MacBooks can be incredibly useful for completing assignments and learning more effectively. But when only some students are able to use them while others are restricted to school-issued Chromebooks, the classroom becomes less about learning and more about unequal success.