Fights prompt Madison HS lockdown and subsequent cellphone ban on campus for students, HISD says

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Madison High School in southwest Houston was placed on lockdown Friday after recent fights and a new ban against cell phones.

Several students walked out in protest that same afternoon.

Houston Independent School District officials told ABC13 there have been multiple fights on campus recently.

In response, the principal announced that students won't be allowed to use their cell phones at school starting Monday.

Any student who brings a phone to school must turn in the device at the front office and then pick it up at the end of the day.

Multiple parents ABC13 talked to Friday said taking away phones is dangerous.

"It's a public school. We have to know what the kids are doing and the location, what's going on, are they afraid of something?" Veronica Vargas, whose siblings attend Madison High, explained. "We, as parents, we are worried at this time."

HISD officials said there will be extra security on campus Monday when this new policy is implemented.

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