Schools and Cellphones

The BBQ Pit
41

I teach at a public boys’ middle school. Almost every student has a cell phone. I have a very simple policy: use the phone in my class and I confiscate it. If it’s in the morning, come to my office at the end of the day and apologize to me in English (I teach English) for using the phone in my class. If I confiscate the phone in the afternoon, see me the next school day prior to classes to retrieve your phone. If you’re waiting for your girlfriend to text you a message, relax! Although I’ve confiscated your phone, you won’t miss the message. I shall read it out loud when it arrives. This policy is clearly stated in the “contract for grade” and all the boys know it. This semester (the school year in South Korea starts on March 1), only 2 boys have tested the policy. I don’t think that’s so bad for 18 classes of 39 students each. I do permit the students to use the bilingual dictionary function on their cellphones if they first request permission.

Regarding the poster above who said it’s none of the school’s business what the family emergency is: I would say it depends on the emergency. After all, the school staff are responsible for the children and are also responsible for ensuring the children are in school except for emergencies. The one time my mother had to do something like that, she used the following line: “This is Monty’s mother. Inform the principal there’s an emergency. I’m on my way to the school. Please ensure Monty is waiting for me in the Principal’s office. Good bye.” Click. Mom’s kind of direct.

42

I am teacher at an 11-18 School. Our policy is that valuable items should not be brought to school; but as Hippy Hollow has already stated we do not search bags for these items. If the students are discrete then we are none the wiser. The reason for banning valuables is that we have a theft problem and it takes a huge amount of my time to deal with it and we rarely catch those responsible. Every student has a locker but they frequently leave their belongings lying around.
Free phones are provided for emergencies and students are allowed to use them at break or lunch.
The school will pass any messages on if there is an emergency.
When I meet aggressive or rude parents I always want to tell them that there are plenty of other schools in this area which their children would be welcome at.

43

Wow. I just sent up a prayer of thanks that I have the opportunity to attend a small, parochial school. We don’t have ridiculous rules on cell phones or ipods or even locks on our lockers. ('Cause nothing gets stolen.) You wanna know how much freedom we have? I’ve left school multiple times during study halls to go to the coffee shop or home to get something I’d forgotten. Wow, I didn’t realize how lucky I am. My condolences to all of you struggling with this issue. (And personally, I think you cell phone use martinets should lighten up.)

44

[QUOTE=Inner Stickler]
(And personally, I think you cell phone use martinets should lighten up.)
[/QUOTE]

Personally, I think people who have separation anxiety from a piece of technology need to get a fucking grip. Leave it in your locker or at home. You don’t need it.

Kids are texting each other answers on tests. Cellphones are going off during classes, playing music. Yeah, we should just lighten up, because it’s not like we’re trying to TEACH or anything, Go ahead, take a call. This is only your fucking education and everyone else’s you’re interrupting. Nothing important. :rolleyes:

45

Where would one purchase a fucking grip? The hardware store? The sex shop? Ebay?

Personally, my cell phone is usually in my locker. If it is in my pocket then it is on silent 'cuz the little fucker always makes me jump when it goes off. All of this is moot anyway because I usually forget it at home.

As far as learning goes, in my experiences as a student, those who want to learn regardless of cell phones going off will and those who don’t want to learn weren’t going to learn anyway.

If people are really using their cell phones all the time while you are trying to teach, then yes, they are rude and unthinking. But an outright ban covering the whole school from beginning to end? That doesn’t seem even a tad zealous? Really?

My question mark key looked underused.

46

[QUOTE=Inner Stickler]
Wow. I just sent up a prayer of thanks that I have the opportunity to attend a small, parochial school. We don’t have ridiculous rules on cell phones or ipods or even locks on our lockers. ('Cause nothing gets stolen.) You wanna know how much freedom we have? I’ve left school multiple times during study halls to go to the coffee shop or home to get something I’d forgotten. Wow, I didn’t realize how lucky I am. My condolences to all of you struggling with this issue. (And personally, I think you cell phone use martinets should lighten up.)
[/QUOTE]

Just how small is your school?

This board always has me taking extreme positions just to prove a point. First, if you’re dealing with young adults, I can assure you that theft is par for the course. It’s not always because of not having things that people steal. Plenty of functional adults took leave of their moral compasses as young adults and stole things. I don’t see it as a scarlet letter type offense, although most times when it takes place I’m pretty put out for the victim as well as the perp (if we find out who did it). I’m certain that theft has occurred, or will occur at some point at your school. I suspect you’ve been fortunate, though it sounds like your school community is probably generally a place where you can leave things behind and they won’t disappear.

The other issue is what you’ve learned (or not learned) from attending a school where you feel very - dare I say - too comfortable. When I worked at Emory University, I constantly had to remind students that they were now in school in a large city, and yes, laptops can be stolen when you step out the room for five minutes. I actually had some parents complain about security in a residence hall because their kids had a TV stolen. I asked them if the students had locked their door. Apparently carrying a key was too much of a hassle when they went out, so they just pulled the door closed or a weekend night for several hours. :smack:

I also had many students who just weren’t used to securing or looking after their belongings because they lived in so-called “good neighborhoods” and never had to lock their doors, chain up their bikes, etc. Opportunists call these students marks. And your average college campus is crawling with people, including students, staff, and others, willing to help you part with your property. So even if your school is super secure, it’s a good habit to prep for the future. (Heck, if a gunman can wander into an Amish school, it’s not implausible that an opportunistic thief might find his or her way into a small parochial school. Or might be attending or working there already.)

I’m glad you bounded that statement, because as a teacher, I’m responsible for instructing 22-30 individual learners. Some, like you, have no problem filtering out every distraction. But most need as few distractions to learn their best. Not to mention the fact that I need to be able to focus and concentrate.

If being in favor of banning cellphones in K-8, and having strong restrictions on them in HS makes me a martinet… I’m pretty sure about 9 in 10 teachers and administrators are martinets. (I work with and teach teachers, and I have never encountered a teacher who’s okay with iPods or cell phones being used in their classroom. Though I would allow my middle school kids to listen to CDs at a computer station as a reward for completing work at a high level of quality.)

47

[QUOTE=Inner Stickler]
Where would one purchase a fucking grip?
[/QUOTE]

Not for sale but they can be hired

48

[QUOTE=featherlou]
You need better laws.
[/QUOTE]

It’s an excellent law. Jammers are anti-social and indiscriminate devices. You don’t solve social problems by shitting all over the airwaves.

You are free to build and live in your very own Faraday cage, where no one will ever bother you.

If it was up to me, kids could carry cell phones in school, as long as they turned them off during class.

49

[QUOTE=Inner Stickler]
Where would one purchase a fucking grip? The hardware store? The sex shop? Ebay?
[/quote]

Some people just acquire a grip by living in the real world. Apparently you’re not one of them and need remedial grip. School of Hard Knocks gives them out with tuition, which I’m sure you’ll pay soon enough.

Some kids have attention issues. Some are just regular kids, not like your exemplary self, who will take any opportunity to derail the class and focus on something other than academia. It’s bullshit to say those kids “don’t want to learn.” They are just easily distracted, and I like to provide an environment free of that. It’s only right.

No. Between the distraction, the cheating, and the theft, the school has to have that policy. It has been driven to it by student behavior. Yes, it’s zealous, but it’s not overzealous. Be discrete with yours and you can have it anyway. If it gets stolen, it’s your problem. That’s the way it is.

50

[QUOTE=Monty]
Regarding the poster above who said it’s none of the school’s business what the family emergency is: I would say it depends on the emergency. After all, the school staff are responsible for the children and are also responsible for ensuring the children are in school except for emergencies. The one time my mother had to do something like that, she used the following line: “This is Monty’s mother. Inform the principal there’s an emergency. I’m on my way to the school. Please ensure Monty is waiting for me in the Principal’s office. Good bye.” Click. Mom’s kind of direct.
[/QUOTE]

Without having read the whole thread, I completely agree with this. The whole world communicated sans cell phones back in the day, and students got emergency messages all the time. I see no reason why a kid would need a cellphone in school and I can certainly understand how disruptive it could be in class (not to mention the cheating factor).

51

Another vote for kids don’t need cellhones/beepers. Drugdealers do. Kids don’t. Every school I ever attended had at least one public payphone where for a quarter you could make a quick call.

One of my sisters actually had the best solution that I had ever heard of. She paid extra each month to have an 800 number go to their house. It was about the price of a cell phone, never broke, never went out of style, and it never got misused for first-love-drama or a bag o’ weed.

52

[QUOTE=featherlou]
You need better laws.
[/QUOTE]

As far as I can tell, they’re illegal in Canada, too.

53

[QUOTE=St. Urho]
As far as I can tell, they’re illegal in Canada, too.
[/QUOTE]

At the moment, yes. But the CRTC (the Canadian equivalent of the FCC) is considering allowing licensed use in certain situations, including schools.

54

This was a frightfully huge issue in the high school here as recently as a year ago. Once it was made clear that it was a problem (kids taking calls in class, texting, taking photos, stealing, basically all the reasons outlined thus far), there was a new policy implemented stating that they were not to be carried at all during the school day, but could be kept in lockers. If someone has their phone out or on them, it is confiscated and the Asst Superintendent calls parents to come and pick it up. This has proven to be a good thing inasmuch as parents don’t want to have to screw around with getting to central office just to get their kids phone.

There have been maybe twelve to fifteen instances this year, and last time I checked, the Asst Superintendent had three phones in his desk drawer that nobody had bothered to come in and claim.

Of course, all schools in our district have phones in each classroom, as well as in the offices. If a student absolutely has to make a call during the day, there exist numerous options to do so. And once the school day is over, they can knock themselves out.

55

I hate to say this, but the word is discreet.

Yeah I know it’s nitpicky, but that mistake bugs me.

56

[QUOTE=mks57]
It’s an excellent law. Jammers are anti-social and indiscriminate devices. You don’t solve social problems by shitting all over the airwaves.<snip>
[/QUOTE]

Places where I would agree 100% with putting cell phone jammers:
Movie theatres
Classrooms
Cars
Public transportation

In my opinion, people using cellphones in these places are the anti-social ones; the ones who put their conversation ahead of the people around them who don’t want to hear it or the safety of others.

(St. Urho, I have no idea about the EMF jammer laws in Canada. As far as I know, we need better laws, too.)

57

[QUOTE=Count Blucher]
Another vote for kids don’t need cellhones/beepers. Drugdealers do. Kids don’t. Every school I ever attended had at least one public payphone where for a quarter you could make a quick call.
[/QUOTE]

Pay phones are rapidly becoming an anachronism. The cell phone has nearly destroyed their economic base. Pay phone operators are not charitable institutions. That’s why they have been disappearing from public places.

I’d like a bolt of lightning to hit every person who wants to ban something because some drug dealers find it useful. Drug dealers got on quite nicely before the invention of the pager and cell phone. It’s a poor argument for depriving the rest of us of advances in technology.

Schools had better get used to cell phones and other modern technology. They aren’t going away and are likely to become even more advanced and common. We don’t live in the 19th century anymore.

58

[QUOTE=mks57]
Schools had better get used to cell phones and other modern technology. They aren’t going away and are likely to become even more advanced and common. We don’t live in the 19th century anymore.
[/QUOTE]

Schools had better get used to cell phones because

  1. They aren’t going away
  2. They are likely to become even more advanced
  3. They are likely to become even more common

What kind of idiotic statement is that? That’s like saying because guns aren’t going away and their becoming more advanced and common that schools had better get used to them :smack:.

59

[QUOTE=Hampshire]
Schools had better get used to cell phones because

  1. They aren’t going away
  2. They are likely to become even more advanced
  3. They are likely to become even more common

What kind of idiotic statement is that? That’s like saying because guns aren’t going away and their becoming more advanced and common that schools had better get used to them :smack:.
[/QUOTE]

Like guns, wishing really hard isn’t going to make them go away.

Cell phones will probably evolve into multi-function personal communications, data access, computing, navigation, and recording devices. An electronic device that augments the human being. Computer enhancement of vision and hearing are likely to be common in the future. Are we going to declare our schools “no technology” zones? Why not ban corrective lenses, hearing aids, and artificial limbs? Among other things, schools are supposed to prepare young people to become members of society. Part of that is the responsible use of tools and technology.

60

[QUOTE=mks57]
Cell phones will probably evolve into multi-function personal communications, data access, computing, navigation, and recording devices. An electronic device that augments the human being. Computer enhancement of vision and hearing are likely to be common in the future.
[/quote]

And all that is really cool stuff which has absolutely nothing to do with being at school and sitting in class to learn.

Again, an incredibly dumb statement. Are you honestly comparing a student’s need to see with the right to have a cell phone in school? Slap yourself.