Cell Phones In School

Hehe...I thought I'd bring this to TG...

Saturday, my family and I went to Topeka to eat supper with my grandparents and my aunt and uncle...This happened to come up during dinner.

Apparently principals are telling teachers NOT to take away cell phones because it can get the school into a lot of trouble.
1. It's our right. I doubt they can take away rights.
2. Should something happen and the student needs to be contacted, the family may not know the school number and might only know the kid's number. Now...Should that something be urgent, serious, and possibly life threatening, the school could into a TON of trouble.

So.
What's your intake on this, TGrz?

This is quite the dilemma, I think what schools need is an "acceptable use policy" where they lay out circumstances on how the cell phone may be used. Something like they must be on vibrate, and students are allowed to check them, but unless it's a family member, they can't answer. this would also open up the possibility of using cell phone calendars and schedules.

lol, I know PLENTY of people that just text in class. Or kids that call other kid's phones to get them in trouble.

I think it's stupid, bothersome, annoying, and disrespectful.

However, the kiddos have a right to a cell phone, so they should have them, however, if they are definitely being used for the wrong reasons, then something needs to be done. They don't necessarily need to be taken away, but maybe put in plain sight or put on a the teacher's desk for the remainder of class?

If my phone is with me, It's usually just chilling in my pocket or backpack. It's not like I have any friends (or at least not any obnoxious ones)

It depends. I think they should allow kids to bring them but keep them on vibrate. If they text during class, or call other people they should get detention or something.

We just get ours taken away if we're caught.

i got mine taken not too long ago.

Well, I started this because mine was taken away because it randomly started playing music and I had no f*cking clue why. I'm guessing the alarm still takes effect even if it's off...

Either way, I got it taken away even after apologizing, turning it off AGAIN and putting it out of sight...
Now...I understand that, and yes, it was in class. BUT, and get this, class wasn't in session yet! Funny, eh? Class started about a minute after it was taken away.

Okay..now for what REALLY freakin' ticked me off...

I went to detention, served my time, and got my phone back.
I turned it on, checked my messages, and listened to the recent calls...
Well. There was a message or call or something from a number that I've never heard. Ya' know what it said? "Your verification number is: 40somethingsomething8somethingsomethingsomething."
WTF? Something went on while they had it, I had about 3 calls during the time it was taken away. And note: It was supposed to be off. I gave it to them while it was turned off. I got it back, turned off! Seriously...there's something going on.

I may tell my parents about this, but they'd kill me at the fact that I got in trouble.

Yeah, but i'm glad i don't have one so that way I can't get into trouble with a cell phone.

You just shouldn't be allowed to use it during school but you should keep one still. Perhaps you could be able to use it during breaks.

this came up in one of my exams and i said yes they should be allowed in schools because they can be used in cases of emergency ,and that students shouldn't take advantage of this by texting in class

I remember my teacher telling our class that we lose our rights once we step inside the classroom. It becomes a totalitarian rule. As such, the teachers have the right to take away whatever it is that is distracting the class with the students not having a say in it.

Anywho, I think if students have their cell phones in class, it can only be used in emergencies. No texting, nothing. Only for emergencies.

I was a student-teacher for a little while in high school math class, and I can see why teachers don't want you using your cell phone during class. Its distracting and rude. I don't know how many times he asked people to put their phones away, but even I started to get irritated. I mean, really, do you HAVE to text all of your friends during class?

I'm guilty of texting in the classroom--I'm sure everybody is--but now that I see how annoying it is, I don't do it anymore.

Kudos for anybody else that don't text during class.

I think that its really stupid how far they take the whole cell phone issue. Its not needed to text during class I understand that and not saying that I do but they blow up if they see the slightest glimpse of a phone and the all hell brakes loose. If they just would lay back a bit it would help alot im sure.

Texting in phone is not needed in class, I agree. Many make the argument that cell phones distract kids. But my opinion on that statement, is that if a teen was to be distracted by a text message in class, that teen will easily be distracted by something else in class.

Ya I don't think the phone itself is whats the distraction, although it is rather rude to whomever is speaking or teaching the class

Anymore kids talk to their parents a lot though texting. I don't really see justification for making it a huge issue when, in the grand scheme of things, they are becoming more and more functional for general use - even if it is in the classroom.

Ya look at Virginia tech texting saved lives there during that shooting.

I actually have a professor who uses text-based polls for his classes. He asks an opinion question and gives us multiple choices, and we text a code to a certain number, and the results show up on the program he uses. He uses the results to gage what we think as a class, and uses that to stimulate discussion. I go to a big college so our class sizes are at the least well over a hundred, so it is a useful tool.

I'm sure he wouldn't be ok if we were all openly texting our friends during class, but I think it's interesting that he is recognizing that most of us can text and even encouraging the use of our phones in this academic way.

Yeah, cell phones really are becoming a way of our life. It is getting harder as the days go on to go about with the use of a cell phone, because so many depend on it.

They kinda don't help as as much as they need to sometimes. We seem to be getting to dependent of them.

Yes, we really are. Especially knowing how much they can do.

It's hard to criticize that dependency, though. We're so intertwined by them that our very wellbeing is determined by being able to text or call someone. I honestly don't know that many of us would have some of the freedoms we enjoy if we weren't able to be reached at all times.

I took a law class where I learned that public schools can make their own rules and you lose some rights (we specifically discussed First Amendment rights) when you enter the school. The Supreme Court has generally decided that schools can limits rights as long as it is within reason and that it applies equally to everyone. So technically, schools certainly have the right to place whatever restrictions they want on cellphone use.

That being said, I understand the argument about students needed them to be contacted in case of emergency, and I think that is definitely an important reason why students should never have their phones taken away.

Ya, maybe instead of taking them away just idk give them a detention or something.