You know, anti-cell-phone laws in schools can be pretty retarded, but come on--this one was spelled out in the freaking school handbook! This isn't the right way to change the rules.

Student is a dumbass for not putting the phone on "silent," or better yet, turning it off.

Parents are asshats who think the rules don't apply to them or their precious offspring.

Why do high-schoolers need cell phones again?

/off my lawn!

"According to a section within the handbook, all wireless telecommunications devices are not allowed on school premises during school hours. Any exceptions to the rule must be approved by the Superintendent."

/Parents, our job is to raise independent, self-sustaining, accountable Grown-Ups. Ya just got to let them faulter a bit while supporting the guidelines agreed to in the public sector.
//There is where the 'parenting' comes into play. Be smart, learn the game of life. Choosing the battles you Truely need to stand for.
///Family always comes first. They are us, ultimately.

I hope they eventually confiscate Momma's Boy's diploma just to watch her head explode.

it's too bad the world will end if a cell phone rings in a classroom.

my idea:

anyone caught with a cell phone gets it smashed in front of them Gallagher-style

dionada

Why do high-schoolers need cell phones again?

I know that if I had a high school age child, I'd want them to have a cell phone just so that *I* cold keep in contact with them at all times...

TheHappyCanadian

my idea:

anyone caught with a cell phone gets it smashed in front of them Gallagher-style

If I had purchased a cell phone for my child and some jackass at her school smashed it "to make a statement", I'd have a lawsuit brewing as soon as I could get a lawyer on MY cell phone.

TheHappyCanadian: anyone caught with a cell phone gets it smashed in front of them Gallagher-style

Why not just make them watch a Gallagher performance? Now THAT would be punishment.

/obligatory ...

HAHAHA, kids are always getting shafted with zero tolerance policies, finally the tables have turned. muhahahahaha


/despise cell phones in classrooms

My 8 year old daughter is bugging me for a cell phone, and she'll get one too.
One that's 5 years old, has no games, all the features disabled and locked down so she can't pissfart around with her idiot girlfriends

its gonna take a huge ol' butthole to come out and scream rights for students, evil opressive teachers, and if we're really lucky, blame it on christians.

luckily theyre in no shortage

i give it fifteen minutes tops.

Let's try this again...

Wasn't there a flamewar just yesterday about this exact thing and one side was saying that if it's in the handbook it's as good as law and the other saying that if a teacher confiscated his child's phone there would be a lawsuit for theft?
Guess we're going to find out which one was right...

Farkshower1972

ooh.... we're close, we're getting close here...

Last time...

Farkshower1972: I know that if I had a high school age child, I'd want them to have a cell phone just so that *I* cold keep in contact with them at all times...

That's nice. If I had a child of any age, I'd count the seconds until they were in school and hope they left me the hell alone all day.

Thank FSM I'm not a breeder, eh?

No person shall be... deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law

School policies are not the process of law. Larceny charges are. It doesn't get any clearer than this.

Cell phones are annoying in classes. All you see are kids sending texts to each other while you're trying to teach and then trying to play music outloud while you're trying to deliver the lesson. If you need to keep in touch with your kid, call the office and have them called down to reception to pick up the phone.

/your kid is a spoiled brat
//stop defending him/her

zero tolerance = laziness

I'm trying to post the pic that says "Ah jeez, not this shiat again", but my computer is apparantly farked. Oh well.

Howser
I had one exactly like until recently. All it could do was remember peoples numbers and ring in one of 5 ways, maybe it texted but I would just call people insted. I miss it a lot.

Detention for any owner whos cellphone goes off in class. Problem solved.

There are legitimate reasons for highschoolers to have cellphones. Say your car breaks down on the way to/from school? Not as important for guys, but not terribly safe for girls that age to hitchike or bum a phone in certain areas...

Turning it off in class is common sense, though again I can't say I've never forgotten to. Trouble is, we had stupidly draconian rules - one kid got suspended for having a phone in his backpack, turned off. Stupid - he wasn't causing trouble, just happened to have it fall out in front of the wrong teacher.

Parents who call during class without a damned good reason are just freaking morons, though.

Why do high-schoolers need cell phones again?

In this country we operate on the principle that you can do anything you want that is not explicitly forbidden by the federal government or the state.

TheHappyCanadian

my idea:

anyone caught with a cell phone gets it smashed in front of them Gallagher-style

there's a video floating around on youtube of something similar. professors takes cellphone, smashes it, continues lecture. what got cut out was the kid getting up from his seat and dropping the professor like a sack of potatoes.

people don't seem to understand that a violent action will usually have an equal or greater violent reaction.

lesson: Don't be a dick

This thread needs more pics.

I really wish I was a teacher so I could make the kids who get calls in class have me talk to the person on the other side and biatch them out. Then detention the hell out of the kid.

Why doesn't this happen more often?!

Cell phones in schools are trouble.

Kids call their friends to help attack someone after school.
Kids bypass security by calling friends to let them in a side door.
Kids from different classes coordinate trips to the bathroom.
Kids cheat on tests using calculators, text messages.

If Mom has to get in touch she can call the main office.

Parents of a student at Lone Grove High School have filed larceny charges with the Carter County District Attorney against two school officials.

Ordinary citizens can't file charges, they can request that charges be filed. The DA will have to file them, which he won't because the principal was acting under a priviledge.

It's too bad your world will end if you have to keep your phone turned off during classtime. Your ringtone selection is incredibly retarded anyway, I guarantee it.

Personally, I prefer this. (pops)

To be fair, holding the phone for 5 days serves no purpose. The phone should be returned at the end of the school day. Some other punishment should be meted out, of course, but you don't just get to keep a person's private property without consent for long periods of time, unless owning that property is against the law. And by law, I mean "LAW", not some school code.

vgss

Lots of things are banned/restricted in school. Does that mean that students' civil rights are being violated on a daily basis?

In fact, isn't their compulsory attendance a violation itself? Fukkit, let's just dissolve school altogether and let kids just roam.

sixdays

ooh.... we're close, we're getting close here...

Not so much. I don't think kids should be able to chat on their cell phones in class, and I think that in this particular case, the school was correct in what they did.

However, I do believe there are legitimate reasons for children to own cell phones, provided those phones are de-activated or at least kept on silent during classtime.

/ I wish I could find some way to blame it all on Christians, though. ;)

I hate cell phones, and I hate it when they ring innapropriately.

What makes me question the schools actions, is even if the student acted inappropriately by having one on in school, why they felt the need to withhold the device for the whole ten days. Withholding it from the kid seems fine, but from the parents seems asinine to me. If they had cell phones back in the day when I was a kid, and I got one confiscated, my folks would have wanted it back, and then kicked my butt.

Just because you write it up in a manual doesn't mean you can do it.

cell phones are in fact a powerful method of self-defense for certain groups of people who clearly need it.

there's a risk of the odd ring during class - vibrate or silent is a must. phones off during exams is a must.

there are greater ACTUAL risks present to young people who don't have a means of communication.

/ just took a crap on your lawn
// how you feel about that?? huh??
/// how you feel about that?!

Dionada

Why do high-schoolers need cell phones again?

Sure helped on 9/11 when I was stranded in NYC on my second day of high school, with family 50 miles away on Long Island...

<i>School policies are not the process of law</i>

But it's pretty well accepted that within the confines of a school, kids have far fewer rights than their adult counterparts.

They make you go to school, and they make you follow the school's rules. Life sucks. Get that kid a helmet. Maybe a couple for his parents, too.

Mr. bitterness...

When I try to take a cell phone away *just for that class* I have some kids get extremely aggressive and throw tantrums. These are 15/16 year olds. They don't bother turning up for detentions either, and then you have to chase them down. It's a constant problem in class. That and girls pulling out makeup in a science lab.

vgss

No person shall be... deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law

School policies are not the process of law. Larceny charges are. It doesn't get any clearer than this.

Actually school policy is considered a process of law as far as due process is concerned. Thank you, come again.

I love the parents and students who claim that cell phones are essential. Somehow, I made it through school without and the world never ended.

If there is an emergency, just call the main office at the school, they WILL get a message to your kid.

/thinks cell phones in general are a huge waste of time tho, so I am biased.

Saying they will NEVER return it would be theft in my book. Saying the will return it to the students parents or give it back after the day is over is another thing.

Too bad who ever wrote the article doesn't mention it

I am going to be a teaching high school English in a few years, and I expect cell phone problems to get worse. Here's my thinking:
Kids are going to have cell phones whether they are allowed or not.
I'm not going to take your kid's phone away, even if it goes off in class.
Your kid can be texting in my classroom, as long as he is not disrupting anyone else's chance to learn.
Your kid will also be allowed to sleep or read in class, as long as he is not disrupting anyone else's chance to learn.
Cell phones rules are outdated and useless. Who is hurt by Timmy carrying his phone around?

Libertarianism in the classroom - I will teach. You can choose to learn or not to learn, as long as you let everyone has that option, too.

What Guy
Kids TELL their friends to help attack someone after school
Kids bypass security by YELLING at friends to let them in a side door
Kids from different classes coordinate trips to the bathroom AT A DESIGNATED TIME.
Kids cheat on tests using ACCUAL CALCULATORS, NOTES.

They should still shouldn't be using them in school.

We have not experienced a cell phone incident at school with any of our kids, but I remember one son having his nerf football held until the end of the year, and it didn't even ring in class.

Apologies for linking to a video that had an advert lead-in. I just noticed that.

HelmetTesterTJ: I hope you enjoy your day as a teacher ya hippie ;)

phillydrifter

This thread needs more pics.

Just for you:

Farkshower1972>
thats why you can call the school and they will get a hold of your little ball of joy. i teach after school programs and cell phones going off make a lesson next to impossible to teach. your convince does not justify ruining the education of thirty some odd kids.

if your kids cell phone manners are anything like yours, i pray he is not in my class.