cell phone issues

[goddess40]

Has anyone had problems with cell phones in school - texting to cheat or just to gossip during class, inappropriate pictures taken in locker rooms or bathrooms.

http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/07/israels-kosher-phone/
all Internet access, SMS text messaging, video, and voice mail have been disabled on the phones.

Wouldn't these phones help with the negative issues?

[LWolf]

1. Yes.

Our official school policy is that cell phones are turned off, and stay in backpacks in lockers, until after school. Any student with a cell phone outside of their locker gets the phone confiscated, held in the office until a parent picks it up and conferences with the principal.

A second offense can mean suspension, or a cell phone held in the office until June.

[goddess40]

3. But that only works if they get caught

a nude photo taken in the locker room that makes it to the internet can not be undone, nor can the damage to that child.

After school sporting events mean kids have there phones with them, telling them not to use them doesn't actually prevent it from happening. My thinking was if students had phone capability phones only the temptation would be reduced.

[LWolf]

4. True.

We supervise those areas.

We can do it because of our small student population and small campus. We don't have that many students, or that much area, to cover.

I'm sure that's harder to accomplish in bigger schools.

[goddess40]

5. Our supervison in locker rooms is spotty at best

most are either ignorant of the amount of bullying that goes on in a locker room are afraid of being accused of being a pervert.

[LWolf]

6. We don't have a locker room.

We have a set of restrooms, each of which has 30 lockers, at the entrance to the gym. They are quite small; once person standing at the entrance can hear anything happening in either one, and we don't hesitate to enter when we need to, or to just pop in randomly so that our students know to expect visits.

I don't enter the boys' room; my team partner does that.

I remember locker rooms from my own jr. high and high school days, of course. Too large to supervise well, even if someone is always on duty.

Just one more indication for me that small is better.

[SweetStephanie]

2. no

no...absolutely

[IrateCitizen]

7. The phones themselves are a distraction -- they need to go.

Personally, I don't think they have any purpose in school. PERIOD. Not for the students, and not for the teachers either.

Then again, I don't even own a cell phone, nor do I want one.

[noamnety]

8. I can't agree with that.

I don't use a cell phone normally - there has maybe been one day that I had mine in the building.

But when my daughter was in school, I badly needed her to have one, and school policy was that she couldn't have one in the building at all. There were times when I was stuck in traffic and late to pick her up, I had no way to contact her, her school was locked when I got there and she was no place to be found, I didn't know if she got a ride home or I should wait in the parking lot for an hour, two hours, and eventually she would appear. There were also times when I had to pick her up - and race to a doctor's appointment ... but a teacher had decided the entire class had detention - that day (!) with no warning to parents. Again, no way to contact the child or for them to contact us, all we can tell from the parking lot is that our child isn't appearing.

I understand why schools are locked to the public after hours, but when the office is closed so the school isn't receiving incoming calls, and the parent and child are on opposite sides of that locked door and there's an urgent need, something has to give. The school has a responsibility to provide a communication method the entire time students are in the building, even after hours, or they have to allow students to solve that problem themselves.

That's not saying that the students should have them on during class. But I think allowing them to get a voice mail from their parents saying "I'm going to be a half hour late picking you up" is worth the occasional cell phone ringing during class that I have to confiscate til the end of the day.

[IrateCitizen]

9. So there wasn't any communication btn parents and students before cell phones???

What ever happened to parents calling the office, and a message being written down and passed along to the student while in class?

This is something that we're just going to disagree on. I detest cell phones. I don't own one myself, and the presence of them in the classroom -- with all the unauthorized texting and playing games, ringing phones are a rarity -- drives me nuts.

They also drive me nuts with adults, because all too often those using them violate basic rules of courtesy and decorum (like carrying on loud conversations in a bookstore or on a train, or putting the damned thing to their ear as soon as they get behind the wheel of their SUV).

[noamnety]

11. when class is in session, that works fine.

When I was in high school, we had a pay phone in the building so we could call out.

When my daughter was in junior high, and at the school I teach in now, after a certain time the office was locked, there was nobody to take messages, but students were still in the building for after school activities. And the exterior doors are locked. So there is no way to get a message into the building, no way to get a message out during after school clubs, after school tutoring, all of that.

I imagine your view would be different if you had an emergency and no way to contact your kid to verify she was even in the building, and all you could do was sit in the parking lot waiting with no clue why she wasn't appearing for an hour.

[IrateCitizen]

14. In view of the possibility of that kind of situtation...

... I would probably establish a contingency plan with my kid beforehand.

I'm not saying that you were shortsighted for not having a plan in place. I'm saying that in light of your experience, I'd establish a contingency plan in order to avoid having to go through it myself.

[davefromqueens]

13. I agree with iwfern

I'll go much further.

Too often the schools that are poorly run or can't control or manage itself look to blame inanimate objects (cell phones, bandanas, hats, shirts, so called gang colors, etc...) for their lousy teaching and administrative skills.

The cell phones are not a problem if you as a school can deal with the kids maturely and respectfully.

I always allow the kids to use the cell phone in one instance - they need to talk with a family member like a parent. I treat them with respect, tell them that if it rings and you need to speak someone you don't need my permission to get up, just quietly get up when the phone rings, signal to me, and take the call outside. Thus I treat the kids with respect. I also make it clear that if anybody ever didn't tell me the truth or tried abusing the privilege, that person won't be allowed to take the call outside and if the cell phone comes out in my class I keep it to the end of class.

I also ask nicely when cell phones come out. I appeal to their common decency instead of berating them. It works 99% of the time.

[IrateCitizen]

15. I'll readily admit that part of my intrasigence on this issue...

... stems from the fact that I really do not like cell phones, nor do I like the lack of courtesy toward others that many cell phone users display in public. My students were always left in amazement when I told them that I didn't have a cell phone, nor did I want one.

In my old school, there was a school rule against the use of cell phones in classrooms or the like. Then, I would be sitting in the library computer lab during a prep period and see a fellow teacher yakking away on his cell phone, in full view of several students (and in blatant violation of the school policy governing cell phones). This teacher in particular, and several others, were also repeat offenders in this manner, because if I saw them do this several times throughout the year, I can only imagine how many times total such things happened.

When basic rules of decorum were not upheld by teachers, how could we possibly expect the students to use them in an appropriate manner? I realize that this only supports your idea regarding "lousy teaching and administrative skills," but in such an environment as a teacher I felt like I was swimming against the tide.

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. First week of school a cell phone rang in my classroom

I held out my hand and the owner of the cell phone looked down at the phone and said "But I NEED to answer this call" I said "No you don't".

She handed me the phone and I looked at it. The caller ID said "Baby Boy".

It was her boyfriend. She is 12.

[davefromqueens]

12. ONly cell phone issues

An occasional ring in class with my middle school group.

I use the downplay approach. If the phone rings, make a joke. Tell them I don't want pizza right now. Oh that must be for me, etc...

Next, if it's family, just tell them the first time that's it's okay, just take it outside, and come back when you are done. Then use this opportunity to explain the rules. No cell phones but an emergency, if it's a family member, just take it outside, walk out with the phone, I won't confiscate it, etc..

BTW you can't confiscate the phone. If you have a student who persistently abuses the privilege, you can collect it and say you get it back when the bell rings or class ends.

As for tests, absolutely not, they go away, period.

Use tact, try to put yourself in the position of the kids.

If it is the high schoolers and they start texting in class, use humor. Something like this

"What are you texting, telling her what a lousy teacher I am. I already know I'm terrible, you don't have to text that to others." (this makes them laugh.)

Then make it clear, look here are the rules, cell phones away in class.

If you later see a kid take out a cellphone, perhaps instead of saying something in front of the class you do one of two things

A) Look at the person, signal with your hands to put it away, say nothing verbally
B) Casually walk by, whisper to them to put it away.