Cell phones and grades!

[MM27]

While it's not exactly the same, I had two students a few years ago that each had a Nintendo DS and were using them during reading (they have chat options so that is how it relates). Anyway, I took both of them and locked them in my file cabinet.

On a side note: To the posters that suggested putting them on your desk, please don't do that. Legally, you are responsible if you take something from a student. If someone swipes it from your desk, you will have to replace it.

I called both parents and explained what happened. Mom #1, who couldn't even make it to the parent/teacher conference, said to just give it back to the boy. Nope, not happening. You want it back, you come get it. I had to be inconvenienced, now it's your turn. She was there within the hour. At least I got the chance to talk about some academic issues since she was there anyway. Oh, the power of holding someone's possession.

Mom#2 listened to what happened and told me to leave it in my file cabinet for the remainder of the year. He could have it back the last week of school.

 

[Pigeon]

Dh's school has a policy where cell phones must be left in backpacks or lockers and may not be taken out in class.

He confiscates them. They can get them back at the end of the day, but get detentions for repeat offenses.

Kids use the texting to cheat like mad on tests.

 

[monsterkitty]

While it's not exactly the same, I had two students a few years ago that each had a Nintendo DS and were using them during reading (they have chat options so that is how it relates). Anyway, I took both of them and locked them in my file cabinet.

Mom#2 listened to what happened and told me to leave it in my file cabinet for the remainder of the year. He could have it back the last week of school.

I totally would have been playing with that DS!

 

[Tink888]

I'm one of those parents that likes my kids having their phone with them when they go to school for emergencies or other things that might come up before or after school.

That said, I expect and they know that their phone is OFF during school.

If a teacher catches them using their phone or texting, that teacher is more than welcome to take their phone. They can contact me and I will pick up the phone and my kids can be CERTAIN that they won't be having access to their phone for quite awhile.

 

[MM27]

I totally would have been playing with that DS!

The boy actually used to ask me if I played with it. Sure, in all my free time.

 

[monsterkitty]

The boy actually used to ask me if I played with it. Sure, in all my free time.

My kids wouldn't even need to ask - they all know I am addicted to video games!

 

[mhsjax]

I have not seen a law on the books that says it is the right of a student to have a cell phone in school. Or one that says the school must return the item it confiscates until the end of the school year. Show me it.
Many items get confiscated and are not returned until a parent picks them up at the end of the year.

actually I think that there is, I can't put my ands on it right this minute, but I was reading the material sent home at the beginning of the year,(I'm here in Florida) and it stated that by law the school could not forbid a student from carrying a cell phone but under school rules it must be kept in the locker and turned off

 

[mhsjax]

How did anyone survive with out cell phones If your daughters were in "terrible trouble" I would hope someone would call the police first and have the police call you... Call me crazy but if it were my kids in terrible trouble and needed help I would hope to god someone would call the cops for them.. Amazingly I did fine with out a cell phone thru all 12 years of school and college. I manged to not have one til 2000. I'm still alive.. kids will survive a WHOLE year with out cell phone/texting if its confiscated by the school

Well by that logic, we used to operate without the benefit of anesthesia, Darn sure don't want to go back to those days.

 

[luvmyfam444]

Oh I just read that and wonder -- are you allowed to read the messages outloud like they would used to do if you got caught passing a note?

Just confiscate the phone, look at the text and if it wasn't really incriminating to any person or vulgar, read it outloud to the entire class.

That probably isn't allowed anymore though I would suspect but that's the image that popped into my head when I read this.

GOSH! That brought up BAD memores! LOL I had a class intercepted in 8th grade - actually I don't think I wrote it - seems like it was being sent to me & the teacher read it in class & THEN stuck it on the bulletin board for everyone to read! talk about embarrsing! Of course I still continued to write notes (maybe not in that class...but I sure did in highschool!) - just was more careful about getting caught!

 

[HelenePA]

Well by that logic, we used to operate without the benefit of anesthesia, Darn sure don't want to go back to those days.

Hey the kids had fair warning about the cell phone and texting during class.. take em away isn't like cutting off their arm with no anesthesia.

 

[monsterkitty]

Hey the kids had fair warning about the cell phone and texting during class.. take em away isn't like cutting off their arm with no anesthesia.

To the kid it is!

 

[HelenePA]

To the kid it is!

and that is the whole point of taking them away Mine dont have phones yet. They do text daddy via email but that's good enough for now.

 

[Carpenters]

For all of the people that take the stance that kids don't need a cell phone, of course you are right. We survived years ago without one. The difference now, though, is that there are no pay telephones anywhere in or near the school anymore (at least at my kids' school!), and it makes it a lot tougher to call home when they need to. I invite you to look around at your local mall or anywhere that they used to have pay phones. They are in very short supply now, at least in our area. My kids were having to borrow friends' cell phones when they needed to reach me until they got their own. I feel better knowing they can reach me. That being said, I do review the cell phone bill to see what times of day they are texting, and if they have some that are during class time, I ask for an explanation. They know that if they get their phones confiscated, I will have to go and pick it up per school policy, and they may not see their precious phones for quite some time, per my policy!

 

[mamacatnv]

For all of the people that take the stance that kids don't need a cell phone, of course you are right. We survived years ago without one. The difference now, though, is that there are no pay telephones anywhere in or near the school anymore (at least at my kids' school!), and it makes it a lot tougher to call home when they need to. I invite you to look around at your local mall or anywhere that they used to have pay phones. They are in very short supply now, at least in our area. My kids were having to borrow friends' cell phones when they needed to reach me until they got their own. I feel better knowing they can reach me. That being said, I do review the cell phone bill to see what times of day they are texting, and if they have some that are during class time, I ask for an explanation. They know that if they get their phones confiscated, I will have to go and pick it up per school policy, and they may not see their precious phones for quite some time, per my policy!

Well said, this is not the same world we grew up in and I have no issue with kids having phones. DS got his first phone at 12 before texting and now DD who is 10 will be getting one after I spent an hour trying to reach the carpool driver she was with last week unsuccessfully.
With our son, we did the same thing. However I know there are lots and lots of not so responsible parents out there who think it is some invasion of privacy or they find in inconvenient to keep tabs on their kids. As in so many other areas, due to lack of parenting our schools are having to take on yet another parenting responsibility in order to maintain order.

I don't agree with confiscation for an entire school year for the first or even second offense, but I don't have an issue with a repeat offender losing their phones for an extended period of time. I am not sure I agree with the school year since the punishment is not equitable to the kid who loses their phone in October vs. the kid who loses their phone in March. I think a set time period would be preferable but I do support the schools right to enforce their rules on this issue.

To the OP - your class, you make the rules now figure out a way to enforce them IMO that is part of your job as a teacher. If you need to pass a basket and collect phones or hand out failing grades, detentions or suspensions until the little darlings get the message then so be it. I do agree also with reading the messages outloud to the class, this is afterall the 21st Centuries version of note passing.

Heck, my DS is in college and he and I text during class. I get on him about it because I find it disrespectful to his professor but he still does it.

I had to create a cell phone policy for the company I work for since my employees were all walking around with the ear pieces and texting and were not paying attention to their jobs or their surroundings which in itself was a hazard. Our employees may use their phones at their discretion but they must do so off the clock and in the break room or outside in their vehicles. Consequences for breaking the rule, sent home for the day without pay and possible grounds for termination. It only took sending a few home to get the message across.

 

[mamacatnv]

it was late - double posts oops

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

Actually, I see plenty of pay phones all over the place. There are pay phones in the grocery store where I work, our lcoal Wal Mart, at every gas station, etc. My hometown high school still has pay phones in the hall. All of our classrooms here have phones in the classroom and of course the office. If a student needs to get ahold of somebody we are willing to allow them to make the call from a school phone.

I have no problem with teens having cell phones, but they have no place in class. If a student has their phone out in class, youcan bet your boots it will be confiscated. Maybe not for the entire year, but at the very least their parent will have to come and get it back.

 

[MushyMushy]

There's a pretty good way around the whole confiscation thing, and leave it to my son to find it. All you need to do is get a spare phone and go to the mobile store and they'll give you an extra sim card -- VOILA! New phone.

A few years ago, my son got his phone confiscated by the summer school program for the remainder of the summer. I fully supported them and told him it served him right. Then Mr. Smarty Pants figured out the solution. I laugh now, but it wasn't funny then.

Oh, and you can have texting shut off from the hours of 7-3 depending on your service. I have a friend whose daughter kept testing the phone rules again and again. The thing is, they were ALLOWED to text in class. So Mom said no way, and had the cell company block texting between those hours. Go Mom!

 

[JessicaR]

I asked dd if kids texted a lot in school, and she said no, no one wanted their phone taken away (they get it back after detention). I think the threat of a WHOLE WEEK would be very effective here! Again, it could be regional, and children here in NE NJ are mostly planning on going off to college, and take school seriously.

I'd be going to the school if they took my child's phone for a year, for breaking a rule, because I think that punishment goes too far. However, I sincerely doubt there would be need of such a strict punishment here, and I doubt that dd would text in school (she's terrified of detention - LOL).

I've asked my kids the same. My middle school son said nobody texts during the day or even has their phone on as they fear it will be taken away. When I asked my high school son the same question his reply was that many text all day long.

Again, it could be regional, and children here in NE NJ are mostly planning on going off to college, and take school seriously.

I'm quite sure children all over take school seriously and plan to attend college. As has been said numerous times on this thread some kids text and maintain a high grade point average. That doesn't mean I agree with it.

There is a time and a place for texting and the bottom line is during class is not one of them. I think its incredibly rude and disrespectful to their teacher.

 

[NotUrsula]

There's a pretty good way around the whole confiscation thing, and leave it to my son to find it. All you need to do is get a spare phone and go to the mobile store and they'll give you an extra sim card -- VOILA! New phone.

A few years ago, my son got his phone confiscated by the summer school program for the remainder of the summer. I fully supported them and told him it served him right. Then Mr. Smarty Pants figured out the solution. I laugh now, but it wasn't funny then.

Oh, and you can have texting shut off from the hours of 7-3 depending on your service. I have a friend whose daughter kept testing the phone rules again and again. The thing is, they were ALLOWED to text in class. So Mom said no way, and had the cell company block texting between those hours. Go Mom!

Oh, yes, very simple to do, and I'm sure that kids that this happens to do it all the time. It's a piece of cake to go out on ebay or Craigslist and get a new phone for a couple of bucks, then have your service transferred to it. For kids that have prepaids it is no big deal if you've got a time card available. The services usually have website deals with a free phone if you buy $20 worth of airtime.

Honestly I think that jamming technology is the real long-term solution. Trouble is, implementing it institutionally in the US will require revision of the Communications Act of 1934. That outdated law makes it illegal to jam radio signals. It was passed back in the days when that only meant licensed broadcast stations and ham radio operators with sets the size of desks, not kids using 3 inch square cell phones to cheat on tests. The law needs to be changed to allow businesses and institutions to legally block signals inside their premises during certain stated time periods.

Some newer facilities are being deliberately built with materials that function as de-facto cell-signal jammers, such as putting lead shielding into the walls and roof, creating what is known as a Faraday Cage. Really thick concrete with rebar can do it, too. Hospitals often have next-to-nonexistant cell phone signals because of all the lead that is used to shield radiology equipment. The building that I work in is full of Faraday cages around sensitive equipment: cell phones are useless in our offices, though they will work in the lobby. However, building a school this way is not the best idea because these measures are permanent and fixed, and you cannot turn them off. Electrical jammers would be a better solution because they could be wired into the alarm/notification system so that they shut off automatically during emergencies.

 

[Camicar]

How did anyone survive with out cell phones If your daughters were in "terrible trouble" I would hope someone would call the police first and have the police call you... Call me crazy but if it were my kids in terrible trouble and needed help I would hope to god someone would call the cops for them.. Amazingly I did fine with out a cell phone thru all 12 years of school and college. I manged to not have one til 2000. I'm still alive.. kids will survive a WHOLE year with out cell phone/texting if its confiscated by the school

Your sarcasm is not helpful or appreciated by those of us who have actually experienced the school failing or outright refusing to call us when our child has a serious problem. Once, the school refused to call me when dd's hand was smashed in a door. They gave her ice and told her to shut up. Two other times, she was having serious problems with her asthma and the school nurse told her she was having a panic attack and to 'stop it.' Both times, a friend used her cell phone to call me because dd was so deep into the attack she could no longer talk. If I'd waited for someone in authority to call me those two times, my dd might be dead today.

And FTR -- there are NO pay phones at her school. There is no way to call out except via the office and if you're having an asthma attack walking the length of this huge school (1000s of students big) is a good way to end up unconscious on the floor.