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We'll admit that we're too old to have been tempted with cell phones when we went to school -- the 50 pound, $10 per call models available at the time made that prohibitive. But obviously these days it's harder to find a teen without a phone, and school officials face the issue of what to do about it. All out bans are unpopular because cell phones have been demonstrated to come in handy during emergencies, so schools have a hodgepodge of about where/how the phones can be used, and the type of punishments doled out for violations. One suburban mom found out that her son's school was hard core:
When the school nurse at West Aurora High School recently called to tell Rhonda Darby her 14-year-old son was running a fever and had to be picked up, she said she'd be there as quickly as possible. But Darby, a nurse herself, was with a patient at the time. And because the appointment took longer than expected, she dialed her son's mobile phone to make sure he was OK and tell him she was running late.
And before his phone even reached the end of its Tokio Hotel ring tone, the kid found himself suspended for three days. As the parent of a school age kid ourselves, this Chicagoista has to agree with the writer of the article that an immediate suspension is draconian. Zero tolerance rules for drugs and weapons, maybe (although even those have been taken to ridiculous extremes of aspirin and nail clippers), but cell phones? Send a note home in the kid's backpack and let him get back to class where he belongs. [S-T, image by Mike Kline]
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I have to say, knowing what the rules are about schools and cell phones, if my kid were sick and had to be picked up and I knew
I was running late, I would call the nurse's office and NOT my
kid's cell phone because they have to stay in the nurse's office until parents get there anyway.
You NEVER call your kid during school hours. You just don't ever do that.
This is a coincidence because just this morning at breakfast my son was telling me about this one kid in a class of his who keeps getting his cell phone taken away because of phone calls during class.
Anyway, I was always under the impression that schools put out some kind of signal that made cell phone use inside of the schools impossible. Guess I was misinformed about that :/
The punishment is appropriate, cell phones are an ENORMOUS pain in the ass in high schools and vectors for cheating, fighting and all manner of nonsense. What's wrong here is the zero tolerance mentality. A mother calling a sick child is not the same as 15 year old boys texting each other answers or calling their friends in other classes. Both examples I've seen in the flesh.
Actually, Ingrid, what you might be thinking of is a tone that's supposed to be inaudible to adults over the age of, I don't know, 25 or something. Some kids have apparently figured out how to use the sound as their cell phone ring tone so that teachers can't hear it. My teacher friends have told me that a) some kids actually do use it, and b) it's a bunch of b.s. because they (the teachers) can hear it just fine.
I haven't heard of schools blocking signals though.
I agree that a ban is a ban. Cell phones disrupt the class. I too went to school before cell phones were ubiquitous and they had already enacted a cell phone ban! Especially with the introduction of texting, cell phones should be kept in the lockers and shut off. Put yourself in a teacher's position. I agree with Ingrid, call the nurse's office or even the school's secretary and only if its an emergency!
This does seem a bit draconian. Was this the kids first offense? While I went to high school when they were beyond the budget of an average kid I did have a run in with the schools "zero-tolerance" knife policy.
Being that I grew up in a rural town and was a Boy Scout a pocket knife is a pretty common tool (not weapon). As a 16 year old I knew not to bring a knife to school which in my mind was something that Rambo would carry. One day walking down the hallway the vice-principal saw my red pocket knife hanging from my car keys. He quietly pulled me aside and asked that I not bring it to school anymore. So I didn't. End of story. He didn't have to deal with a National Honor Society student suspension and I didn't have to be suspended.
My point is that there is a time for being a stickler and a time for assessing the situation in a rational manner. A sick kid's cell phone ringing in the nurses office to take a call from his mother is not a big deal. If it were in the middle of final exams that would be a different story.
"And the suspension will remain on his permanent record, she said."
There goes his chance at a future. The dreaded blemish on his [record scratch sound effect] permanent record.
There goes his chance at a future. The dreaded blemish on his [record scratch sound effect] permanent record.
Clearly, he must commit ritual suicide or else bring even greater sham upon his ancestors.
Yeah, it's extreme, but zero tolerance=zero tolerance. This is why kids get suspended for being caught with Tylenol in their bags.
Yeah, it sucks, but I'd rather have that than "Oh, he's a good kid, he just gets a warning vs. he's a troublemaker, he's getting suspended." Way too subjective for principals and teachers.
Yeah, it sucks, but I'd rather have that than "Oh, he's a good kid, he just gets a warning vs. he's a troublemaker, he's getting suspended." Way too subjective for principals and teachers.
So the only choices are complete permissiveness and obsessive control?
No. It's called discretion and adults exercise it all the time, in fact, it's something good to teach children. Combine that with escalating consequences and documentation of previous infractions and you have something sane that everyone can live with.
I agree, Albanyparkour, it's called discretion. Kids won't learn it if we don't show it to them.
Albany, you hit the nail on the head...it's about discretion.
Anybody remember the story, years ago, about a little girl around 5 or 6 whose mother accidentally switched their bag lunches, so the little girl went to school with a whole apple and a knife (apparently the mother likes to slice her apples before eating).
So, the teacher found the knife in the lunch, she alerted the principal, the principal alerted the board and the little girl was SUSPENDED.
Egads! Talk about a case that cried out for discretion. Do we need to make mountains out of every mole hill?
Although I definitely do not think that cell phones going off in class are mole hills...if I were a teacher that would make me crazy. Actually, it makes me crazy as a parent because I do not take kindly to ANY kid who is disrespectful enough to do anything to disrupt a class where I want my kids to be learning.
If it were in the middle of final exams that would be a different story.
Speaking of which, have kids and do kids used their phones to text answers back and forth during a test? Anyone heard of this happening?
God, if cell phones were around when I was a kid I could be a doctor today...
a suspension? yep, that was worth taking the kid out of school for three days. i'm sure the days on the couch playing video games and watching cartoons (does anyone do that anymore) will be great for his education.
"If it were in the middle of final exams that would be a different story.
Speaking of which, have kids and do kids used their phones to text answers back and forth during a test? Anyone heard of this happening?"
We had a big cheating scandal last year at my school which involved a telephone being confiscated and given to the principal and while he was holding it, text messages started popping up asking the answers to a history test that was being given.
I have caught kids trying to photograph tests and text them to each other--all sorts of stuff.
Cell phones are a huge pain in the ass in school, and kids seem to feel that having their phone is a right, which it is not.
Yes, it does sound draconian, but I would guess that school rules say that phones must be turned off or stored in lockers, and the kid was clearly not following the rules. Kid breaks rules=kid faces consequences, why is that so wrong?
thank you for these comments. At first i was thinking, "gee, there weren't cell phones when we were in school, and we got along fine. Emergency? The parents would call up the school office, and they'd drag the kid outta class. Child have an emergency, they'd go to the school office." Basically I was of the mindset of just a complete ban.
But then i read the comments on discretion. Thirdrail, "it's called discretion. Kids won't learn it if we don't show it to them."
And the story about the knife in the lunchbag illustrates this perfectly. Thank you commenters on chicagoist.
Every year, my children are handed a big stack of papers explaining school rules, which they and I both are to read, sign, and return. One of these papers explains in explicit detail the school's cell phone policy, which is that they are to be kept in lockers from the time first bell rings until that last bell at the end of the day. The stated consequence from the beginning is suspension.
We were clearly informed of the rules at the start, so we know better than to violate this rule. If we choose to violate this rule--say, if I stupidly call my child's cell phone during school hours, and he stupidly has it in his pocket and stupidly answers it--then we must face the consequences.
You're right ... it is called discretion. I teach my children to have the discretion to follow the rules, or to accept the punishment when they choose to do otherwise.
"Cell phones are a huge pain in the ass in school, and kids seem to feel that having their phone is a right, which it is not."
I would imagine that there are some parents out there that think that their kids having a cell phone in school is a right, too.
I'm not saying anyone on this thread has done this--nobody has--but I hate parents that have a "my child can do no wrong and the school shouldn't punish them" mentality.
Right on, BlueFairlane, it is about discretion. They are called rules and and when you break those rules you suffer consequences. While the consequences may be harsh for this one student in particular, the rules are there for a reason.
And I never understood the out of school suspension. What the hell? It always sounded like a reward, not a punishment to me.
{"Cell phones are a huge pain in the ass in school, and kids seem to feel that having their phone is a right, which it is not."
I would imagine that there are some parents out there that think that their kids having a cell phone in school is a right, too.}
A few years ago I noticed a student crouched under his desk and when I went to investigate, discovered that he was on the phone to his father. I told him to hang up and give me the phone and his father told him not to.
In the very heated conversation I later had with his father, the man said that he didn't want to deal with having to come to the school and get the phone reinstated. He also said he didn't understand why I thought he was undermining my authority.
Within about five minutes of meeting my students, I can tell which ones have "my child can do no wrong" parents, the sense of entitlement is obvious.