School Cell Phone Rules

[Taualumna]

Toronto public schools passed the no cell phone on campus rule just DAYS after the Virginia Tech shootings, which outraged parents.

At other schools, phones are to be kept in lockers from what I've been told.

[fantASTic]

Ugh, I think those cell phone rules are so stupid. The phone is the property of the person; the school should not have the right to keep it. If I was at work and my phone was consistently disturbing my work, then my employer would be within his rights to send me home or something - which is why I like the fine idea as well. But for a system that claims to be preparing kids for the 'real world', the rules are archaic in the extreme sometimes.

I wonder how long it'll take for someone to sue the school for unlawful seizure of property.

[SoCalGirl]

Originally Posted by Buttonz

That's taking it a little to far IMO. As an adult, no one should be telling me I can't have a pager/cell phone during a HS football

People didn't put up much of an arguement since we had uniformed police officers conducting the hand held metal detecter sweeps. They would set it to the most sensitive setting, gumwrapper foil would set it off. So pagers set it off too.

[Buttonz]

Originally Posted by SoCalGirl

People didn't put up much of an arguement since we had uniformed police officers conducting the hand held metal detecter sweeps. They would set it to the most sensitive setting, gumwrapper foil would set it off. So pagers set it off too.

Dam. I don't get what the purpose of not allowing an adult to have one is. I would have been one of the few that would have fought it LOL

[AOII_LB93]

Originally Posted by fantASTic

Ugh, I think those cell phone rules are so stupid. The phone is the property of the person; the school should not have the right to keep it. If I was at work and my phone was consistently disturbing my work, then my employer would be within his rights to send me home or something - which is why I like the fine idea as well. But for a system that claims to be preparing kids for the 'real world', the rules are archaic in the extreme sometimes.

I wonder how long it'll take for someone to sue the school for unlawful seizure of property.

Are you a teacher? Have they disturbed you teaching lessons on a regular basis? Have students cheated in your classes using phones? Have students at your school used them to tape fights between other kids? If so, then maybe you might understand, but from your statements, I guess not I've taken away phones, even from kids stupid enough(and I mean stupid) to text while sitting in the front row right next to my desk. Cell phones are not a necessity item, we all survived fine without them for many years, did we not?

I've caught kids texting during class, taking pictures, recording others without permission, etc...Why the hell does the kid need the phone on during the day? They are at school, and they are there to learn, not take phone calls and text their friends two classrooms down. They can't wait the 55 minutes of class time to "talk" with their friends during the passing period or at snack/lunch? I understand having them for emergencies, but what happened in the old days when we had emergencies? Oh wait, our parents came and got us or called the school to get us out of class.

How many of these phone calls that students are getting are actual emergencies? Maybe less than .01% WTF are parents thinking calling their kids during class? It's CLASS!

If, as a parent, you don't like the rules for the school where you child is designated to go, perhaps you shouldn't send them there. I don't see how expecting school to be a learning environment and expecting it to be uninterrupted by a ringing phone is archaic.

[AnatraAmore]

At the middle school I work at, we have a no tolerance policy for cell phones and ipods. If we see them, we take them and they are turned into your floor office. The first time they are taken, students can pick them up at the end of the day. The second time (and for some brilliant ones) third, fourth, fifth... parents must come in to get the phone or ipod back.

Honestly, at 13 or 14 do you think that they really need to call anyone during school? I don't care if it's lunch or passing period. I've watched girls in particular take out their phones in the hallway, pretend they're at their lockers, then get mad when they're late to class and are written up. I have no problem with students using them if it's an emergency and on more than one occasion I have allowed students to use them to call home and check on situations. And if there were ever an emergency, I know I'd feel better if my kid could call home and let me know s/he's okay. So the moral of the story is: if they're off and in your purse/pocket/backpack, I never find out about them and the student has them in case of emergency. Once they come out, they become a nuisance and will be taken away.

[LeslieAGD]

Amen, AOII_LB93!

[LaneSig]

Originally Posted by AOII_LB93

Are you a teacher? Have they disturbed you teaching lessons on a regular basis? Have students cheated in your classes using phones? Have students at your school used them to tape fights between other kids? If so, then maybe you might understand, but from your statements, I guess not I've taken away phones, even from kids stupid enough(and I mean stupid) to text while sitting in the front row right next to my desk. Cell phones are not a necessity item, we all survived fine without them for many years, did we not?

I've caught kids texting during class, taking pictures, recording others without permission, etc...Why the hell does the kid need the phone on during the day? They are at school, and they are there to learn, not take phone calls and text their friends two classrooms down. They can't wait the 55 minutes of class time to "talk" with their friends during the passing period or at snack/lunch? I understand having them for emergencies, but what happened in the old days when we had emergencies? Oh wait, our parents came and got us or called the school to get us out of class.

How many of these phone calls that students are getting are actual emergencies? Maybe less than .01% WTF are parents thinking calling their kids during class? It's CLASS!

If, as a parent, you don't like the rules for the school where you child is designated to go, perhaps you shouldn't send them there. I don't see how expecting school to be a learning environment and expecting it to be uninterrupted by a ringing phone is archaic.

Co-sign.

[fantASTic]

Originally Posted by AOII_LB93

Are you a teacher? Have they disturbed you teaching lessons on a regular basis? Have students cheated in your classes using phones? Have students at your school used them to tape fights between other kids? If so, then maybe you might understand, but from your statements, I guess not I've taken away phones, even from kids stupid enough(and I mean stupid) to text while sitting in the front row right next to my desk. Cell phones are not a necessity item, we all survived fine without them for many years, did we not?

I've caught kids texting during class, taking pictures, recording others without permission, etc...Why the hell does the kid need the phone on during the day? They are at school, and they are there to learn, not take phone calls and text their friends two classrooms down. They can't wait the 55 minutes of class time to "talk" with their friends during the passing period or at snack/lunch? I understand having them for emergencies, but what happened in the old days when we had emergencies? Oh wait, our parents came and got us or called the school to get us out of class.

How many of these phone calls that students are getting are actual emergencies? Maybe less than .01% WTF are parents thinking calling their kids during class? It's CLASS!

If, as a parent, you don't like the rules for the school where you child is designated to go, perhaps you shouldn't send them there. I don't see how expecting school to be a learning environment and expecting it to be uninterrupted by a ringing phone is archaic.

I suggest that you read my post, as you obviously didn't. I never said students should be allowed to use them during class or school as they wished; I said that schools SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO KEEP THEM. In fact, if you HAD read it, you would have known that I supported fining students who have them out during the day.

It was a 5 sentence post. Was it that hard to read past the first sentence?

[AOII_LB93]

Originally Posted by fantASTic

I suggest that you read my post, as you obviously didn't. I never said students should be allowed to use them during class or school as they wished; I said that schools SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO KEEP THEM. In fact, if you HAD read it, you would have known that I supported fining students who have them out during the day.

It was a 5 sentence post. Was it that hard to read past the first sentence?

Apparently you didn't even read your own post, your first sentence was, "Ugh, I think those cell phone rules are so stupid." Were you not referring to all rules or just select ones? Prhaps you should be a little clearer in your own posts.
I did read your post, and I thought it was idiotic,but that is my opinion, and as we all know those are varied here...so ;et's just move along, shall we?

[kathykd2005]

As a teacher, I can see both sides of cell phone rules. Teachers and administration don't want cell phones to interrupt learning, but students want to be able to keep in touch with their families and loved ones. Lately, I've been of the opinion that students should be able to keep their phones on them for safety reasons; however, they should not be allowed to have them ON during class. With all of the recent school shootings, I am a bit apprehensive about telling students they shouldn't have their phones with them.

[When Doves Cry]

My high school & jr high didn't care as long as you weren't using it.
If a teacher saw you with it out, they'd just ask you to put it away

i dont understand the phone rule. anything could happen at a school. and there are not enough phones at the school for us to call our parents so i keep my phone in my pocket on vibrate. they cant do anything to you if they dont see it or here it.

[KatieKate1244]

When I was in HS (I graduated in '03), we were not allowed to have them on our person in class, they had to stay in our lockers on silent. We could use them at lunch and break (and in between classes if we were low key about it), and I don't recall there being any problems about it. My little sister is a sophomore at the same HS, and if they can have them with them as long as the phone is OFF. Not on silent or vibrate, they must be OFF. She told me one teacher even does random "cell phone checks" to make sure the phones are actually off. I think if you're caught with them, you get them taken away and you have to go pick them up from the secretary in the office. After getting them taken away so many times, your parents have to come in to pick them up and sign some notice saying their kids are disrupting class with the phone before they can get it back. I think there's a clause on the thing the parents sign that basically says "Your kid keeps interrupting class with this damn thing, and if he/she does it one more time, we're keeping the phone the rest of the semester. We understand you may have spent a small fortune on this phone, but you've been made aware of the situation and rules, your students know them as well, so make sure your kid keeps the damn thing off. kthnxby."

they keep ours for 5 days on the 1st offense. There is no such thing as a warning at our school.
2nd offense 3 day suspension and taken for the semester
3rd offense 10 day suspension and taken for the remainder of the year.