Students fined $15 for using cell phones in school

[alexandria674]

The only time I ever text in class is to contact my mother or grandma. I often have to get ahold of them to bring me my migraine meds, not allowed at school without a parent giving them to you, so I will text them in class. I don't know anyone who uses texting as a method to cheat. Its quite obvious and stupid. Most kids are more creative then that. If people are going to assume that they are cheating and such through text message then they need to start checking pens, watter bottles, legs, arms, shoes, and under the desk. Kids are much more creative then people think. Someone had the answers to a chem test in one of those clicky pens that spin and say stuff. Getting fined for texting isn't going to stop it. Kids will just get better at.

But can't you go out of class to send the text message to your mom or grandma?


I attend college classes and it kind of bothers me to hear little trills and vibrating when I am in the middle of a test.

 

[MM27]

But can't you go out of class to send the text message to your mom or grandma?

I had a student this year that went to the bathroom and came back in the room and said to me, "My mom wants to know if you can loan me money for lunch" I asked her when she talked to her mother and she realized she was caught so she said, "Umm, when I was in the bathroom, my phone was on and it rang and it was my mother" Wasn't it great that her mother knew that she would be in the bathroom at that exact moment?

If a nine year old can figure out to go to the bathroom to make the call, I think a high school kid could too.

 

[snowy76]

The only time I ever text in class is to contact my mother or grandma. I often have to get ahold of them to bring me my migraine meds, not allowed at school without a parent giving them to you, so I will text them in class.

High school teacher here (and a migraine sufferer - I taught three days this past year with a visual aura and the kids kept wondering why I was squinting at them ).

The thing is, I hear comments from my students like the one above all the time and it's exasperating because it usually falls under the heading of " I need to text because..." and it actually is not necessary. Why not ask the teacher for a pass to the nurse? The meds have to be administered there anyway.

 

[Disfan3]

I do not have a problem with discipline in my class. As I said, if they have it out, I ask them to put it away. If it becomes a huge issue, I will take it. I guess it is just not the mountain I am willing to die on. I tend to guide my class with humor and mutual respect. I honestly do not have this major problem with phones in my classroom.

I know what my job is but there are times when students need to learn life lessons. This could be one of those times. If I give a quiz over material that they missed because they were not listening or did not do their reading, maybe that is a lesson they need to learn to help them go on to college or perhaps a job. Of course, missing a part of the material because the student was doing something other than listening in class is much different than a student falling behind because they do not understand the material. This is not the situation I am talking about. In fact, I have had students read a novel in class but get straight A's because they are exceptional learners...etc.

Fighting technology in today's classroom is going to be an issue. I think there are good ways to use this new technology in positive ways, ways that keep the student interested and engaged in the topic but quite honestly, if a teenager is having an issue with a boyfriend, girlfriend, friend, parent, prom, football, tennis (you get the idea) then Government or History is not going to be their first priority of the day for them. To understand a teenager, you must try to think like one and strategize around that Like I said, if I have a relationship with mys students built on respect, the issue of the cell is not that big. I am just saying I am never going to stand at my door and demand a student GIVE it to me before they enter. That would never work.


I think parents in our district would fight a rule about fines for phones. It would become a parent problem, not a student problem and these days, many parents rely on the cell to keep in contact with their child.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

At my dd's college summer welcome we had a professor address cell phones with us. She said she couldn't believe she had to talk about it but it is an issue in the classroom.

 

[Carly_Roach]

I don't have kids, so I'll ask, what could be that important that a parent of a high school student needs to text throughout the day? I understand that things come up and you need to get a message to your child, but throughout the day? In cases like this, the parent should be paying, it's their fault.

It doesn't end at school.

I worked with a 25 y/o male intern (college graduate) who was supposed to be doing research for our company. Since I had an empty space in my office he wound up with me. Every day, all day long, I saw him texting - to his mother, his unemployed girlfriend, his buddies, etc. Often he'd have to leave the room to make a call to the person he was just texting.

The quality of his research was flat-out bad and I had to throw out much of what he "researched" for my project and do it myself. I found lots of missed documents, notations that certain regulations didn't exist (when I knew they did and found them myself easily on Google later on), and flaws in details that we as a company can't afford to miss.

The Sales Department is now going through headaches because his market research is turning out to be wrong. He recently left the company because his mother got him a full-time job monitoring parolees out on electronic tether. Yeah, that makes me feel safer knowing he's going to be doing that while texting all day.

I absolutely agree with the fines and applaud the school for instituting the practice.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

Teacher here-

I did laugh at the post that stated their child's cell phone will never be taken away period, what if they were on lockdown?

Let me give it to you straight: In a lockdown situatin all phones are to be turned off. This is because many times bomb threats accompany lockdown situations and electronic devices such as cell phones can actually detonate the bomb. This is part of my school policy on lockdowns on bomb threats: We are to turn all wireless electronics off. So even in that situation, your son or daughter will not be able to call you anyway. Add to that that in intruder situations, every school I know has the kids hide. This means making no noise (like being on the phone with a hysterical parent) because the goal is to not make the shooter aware of where you are. So the cell phone will do your kids no good in these situations.

As for getting it confiscated: Hey, if your child is stupid enough or disrespectful enough to use it in my classroom, you can bet your boots it will be confiscated according to school policy! Your kids are here to learn, not text mom, grandma, and the dog.

 

[monsterkitty]

i have no kids so I get to play armchair parent

In today's day and age, my kid would have a phone and would have it with them all day. It an be on vibrate only so it doesn't ring. And it would never be confiscated To me, a cell phone is a matter of safety. If it is being used inappropriately, it will be handled at home. But it would never leave my child's possession.

If there is an emergency or a lockdown, i want to know that my child could reach me or i reach them immediately.

cheating has been going on forever, as has notes passing and every other kid thing. Now it is just electronic. Zero tolerance for cheating.

ok, go ahead, and at me

During Columbine there were so many cell phones in use that we could not get through because of the jam. Part of the panic of knowing if friends were okay was that we could not get through to them. I think everyone and their dog was either texting or trying to call. In fact, one of my texts to my DH did not go through until several hours after we had cleared our building. (We had Columbine kids bussed to my school).

You may think that your child's cell phone is a safety net in a situation such as this, but it is not. In fact, it could hinder the rescues if emergency personel cannot use their cell phones as needed.


Like Eeyores Butterfly stated, we are required to have students turn off their cell phones if there is a bomb threat because they can set off a bomb.