Cell phones in school

This morning, we covered the story of how some public school districts have banned students from having cell phones on their grounds. Ann discussed the issue with Eugene Sanders, CEO of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, where students are
I guess I'm old fashioned, but I don't really understand why some parents are so adamant about being able to contact their kids at school at a moment's notice. When I was in school, if my mom needed to get in touch with me (and it would only be in an absolute emergency), she would call the school's office, someone in the office would call my classroom, and that would be that.
This story led to an email exchange I had with Jackie Levin, who is the senior publishing producer at TODAY and oversees content on allDAY. She is also the mother of two: (this shows how parents feel about this)

Jackie:
Speaking as a parent, the ONLY reason I would want my kid to carry a cell phone is for safety. In this day and age, with 9-11 and pedophiles running rampant, I see the cell phone as a tracking device, and I'm really not joking. I agree there is no reason kids should be using them at all, except and unless they find themselves in an emergency. Unfortunately, the world ain't what it used to be, and if I can feel a bit better as a parent knowing my child is reachable, then so be it.
Dan:
Somehow, we managed to survive during the Cold War, with nuclear war a constant threat, and pedophiles have been running rampant since the beginning of time. And as someone in one of the articles about this points out, just because you, as a parent, feel safer, doesn't necessarily mean that your kid is actually any safer.
Jackie:
Look, whether or not they really do make the kids safer may not be proven, but as parents, we worry about so, so much to begin with, if this MAKES me feel safer and MAKES my child feel safer, then it's a good thing, BUT parents have to parent, and they need to put limits on the usage of the phones.
BTW, my kids don't carry cell phones yet, my son is almost 11 and my daughter is 8. We're considering giving him one because he's getting older, and there will be times when he's on his own after school at an activity waiting to be picked up, and I like to know I can reach him.
Dan:
Well I don't think there's any question that when kids are on their own, there's a purpose to giving them cell phones. I just don't want that to be a subsitute for teaching kids about safety and how to handle themselves when they're not under parental supervision.
That said, since this story is about cell phones in school, I still think they shouldn't have them during the school day. Maybe the answer is to have kids check their phones at the front desk when they get to school and then pick them up on the way out.
Jackie:
hmmm, it's a thought, but how about parents teach kids not to use them during school unless there's an emergency, and then they can check up on it later and make sure the kids are following.
Dan:
I think in that scenario, the teachers again become the policemen, and they've got enough to do as it is.
Jackie:
Do you have kids!!
Dan:
You had to go there…this conversation is over.
http://allday.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2007/08/28/4379064-live-from-studio-1a-ban-cell-phones-in-school

Dependence: One study found that 37 percent of youth felt they would not be able to live lacking a cell phone once they had it. This study also displays that the more mates a teen has, the more probable they are to experience the dependence on their phone and let calls or text messages get in the way with their daily schedule, which could possibly even be during school time.
http://www.cmch.tv/mentors/hottopic.asp?id=70
Two of every 5 teens from ages 8 to 18 own a cell phone, according to a recent investigation. Pupils in grades seven through 13 spend a regular of an hour a day on their cell phones -- in relation to the equal quantity of time they dedicate to homework.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/05/24/MNGVKJ12341.DTL
"The teen obsession with yakking, text messaging and ring tone swapping on their cell phones could possibly mean more than a enormous phone bill. For the most demented, it's a symbol of sorrow and concern, according to a new medical study."
http://www.cmch.tv/news/news.asp?id=230

Students have one justification for cell phones which seems to have some authority, but when thought out, it is only a reason to bring cell phones to school. In case of an urgent situation, parents want to be able to contact their children or vice versa. There for, most schools have phones in every classroom, so parents should be able to reach their children in case of a family or school crisis. No accountable associate of the office staff would prohibit a parent from informing a pupil important news. About a week before finals in December of 2007, our school had a Code Red threat (providentially, it was only a prank). A numerous number of pupils had cell phones with them, and texted their parents. This led to a fright among parents, who directly called the school for more information, since no one really knew what was going on. The lines were so demanding that the school had complexity making the phone calls that were essential for the defence of our students. After attaining more information, the parents called their children. Because the parents were only given small pieces of information, the information which was conceded on only led to gossip, which ended up in superior fear amongst the students. All that the school told parents was that a intimidating note had been found. After students heard this, they began to tell each other that somebody had a gun, that the note enclosed a bomb threat, and many other stories, none of which were precise. Students then texted their parents with this false information, which ended up in more panicked calls to the school and media.
It is reckless for parents, students, and teachers to put up with cell phones in the classroom. Not only do these cell phones cause distractions in class, but they are also a prospect for cheating, ridiculing, and spreading false information.
http://www.helium.com/items/842943-why-cell-phones-should-be-banned-in-the-classroom?page=2

Imagine being a first year teacher and being called to the supervisor’s office, where you are clued-up that a student has taken a picture with her cell phone while you were writing on the board. The picture is of your far-from-tiny butt, and this pupil has sent it to all of her mates. After her mates got it, a text message was attached, with your name, where you work, annotations about the size of your butt, and a chain letter stating that you will rape any person who does not send this image to five mates. I experienced this last year.
Circumstances such as this are not rare. In a neighbouring town, a cell phone image was taken of a girl as she was changing in the locker room, and it was transferred to a large figure of students. Schools have a liability to protect their students from such occasions of cruelty and to educate their pupils that this behaviour is not up to standard.
On the other hand, cell phones are not only a problem in regards to inappropriate and disrespectful photographs. Last month, during finals, I had a student whose cell phone went off. Unnecessary to mention, it broke deliberation. Students are also more talented of hiding cell phones than I care to acknowledge, which makes it easy for them to send text messages during class. They secrete cell phones in their pockets, bags, and hoodies, thinking that a educator won't become aware that they are holding their hands in their bags for long periods of time (our school now has a policy that bags should be kept on the floor). Texting makes deception much well-located for today's pupils. Unsure or don't know an answer? Just text the kid next to you, and you can silently swap answers devoid of the teacher's awareness.
Parents must also be held responsible for student cell phone usage. They must be obliged to teach their children the value of an education, and to avoid distractions such as cell phones in this classroom. However, our school has discovered that many of the phone calls that students receive in class come from parents. These calls are not about family urgent situations, but more frequently they are to ask if a child knows where something is placed, to ask what time someone must be picked up (an issue which should be negotiated prior to school), and other pointless calls. Because parents are frequently to hold responsible as much as the students, our school will no longer give back a phone until his or her parents come to pick the phone up. This holds both the student and parents responsible, meaning that parents will be less likely to give confidence students to bring their phones to the classroom.

Cell phones are dangerous:
• They emit microwaves.
• They construct heat.
• You grasp the source of the emission close up to your brain.
• There are claims that people have had brain tumors in the accurate size, figure and position as the antenna on their cell phone.
Cell phones are safe:
• Cell phones use a extremely low level of radio frequency (rf) energy – extremely low to cause damage.
• The kind of energy given off is non-ionizing - meaning it doesn't cause damage to chemical bonds or dna.
• Hundreds of millions of people have been using cell phones and battery-operated phones for a very long time. If there had been a problem associated with the usage of cell phones, we would have seen it by now.
According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (funded in part by WHO, the World Health Organization) using a cell phone for as little as 30 minutes may increase your risk of getting a brain tumor (glioma). The study is reported to have included 13,000 participants over 10 years.
As a result of all the possibilities of damage that a cell phone could cause is that students will most certainly be drawn away from school as if a child has brain damage this could hugely effect their concentration in class. Not only are cell phones distracting during class time but we are shown that they cause damage to a child’s brain.
http://www.ehso.com/ehshome/cellphonecancer.php

I can tell you that cell phones have no place in the classroom. A student with a cell phone is an unconcerned student, one with a short concentration span who cares more about socializing than education.

When I was educating, all too often I turned around from writing on the blackboard to find pupils text-messaging or otherwise playing around with their phones during my lesson.

Come the end of the term, a handful of pupils would fail the division and far too many would drop out of school. The onus for unsuccessfulness should be placed on distractions in the classroom, specifically cell phones.

Parents think of cell phones as a correlation to their children in an urgent situation. But I wonder what the last situation was that genuinely called for an immediate phone call to a child. In most cases, contacting the hospital or the police would seem more urgent. And parents can always call the school's main office to reach their children.

Cell phones are status symbols for teenagers because when their phone rings while the teacher is talking, everyone laughs. Because playing video games See video game console on their cell makes them look cool. Because text messaging their friend in the next room is more fun than learning about topic sentences. So is listening to the new Three 6 Mafia is an American hip hop group, consisting of two members.

And saying students can store their phones in the locker is a joke. If they have cell phones, they're going to bring them to class.
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Should+cell+phones+be+banned+in+schools%3F+As+schools+across+the...-a0156053588

The Pros
• You can be in contact with your kids, and be familiar with where they could possibly be.
• Your children can contact you in the occurrence of an urgent situation, and vice versa.
• If in hazard, your kids can contact the authorities or a medical provider.
• Phones can be silenced through class or learning periods, and active only in appropriate places.
• Cell phones generate a handiness that was previously unavailable. With cell phones, you can with no trouble approach your kids for any cause: to ask them questions, transform plans, or to basically say hello.
The Cons
• Students frequently fail to remember to turn off their phones in class, and ringing noises or text-message alerts interrupt learning.
• Even if set to silent, cell phones can still cause interruption, since text messaging has happen to be a high-tech process of passing notes in school.
• Students have been recognized to use cell phones to call in bomb threats to schools, to pass up or reduce class time.
• In the event of a extensive crisis, extensive cell phone use can overwork communication systems and render them fatal.
• Student cell phone networks add to the extend of gossip and propaganda, which can be hurtful during a extensive crisis.
• Phones can be used as deception devices during exams.
• The long-standing physical effects of cell phone use are still undetermined.
© 2000-2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Retrieved on 4 may 2010 from,
http://life.familyeducation.com/cellular-telephones/school/51264.html
CELLPHONES
Students are allowed to have cell phones at school. They have to remain switched off in class except if the classroom professor gives precise agreement for phones to be used. Any phone used lacking agreement in class will be confiscated and will be able to be picked up by a parent among 8.30am-4.00pm at the front office.
Unsuitable use of cell phones before school, at interval or lunchtime will be dealt with strictly and may be referred to the Police.
The College takes no liability for, or will not spend time investigating misplaced or stolen phones. Students will be expected to take care of their own cell phones.
http://www.carmel.school.nz/index-3.html