Cell Phones

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cell phones for preteens and teens are for instant gratification. Nothing is thought about or planned. Just run around and I will text/call whenever I have a question or need something.

And really none of you helicopter parents are handing cell phones and letting them run the streets.

I was 8 riding my bike 2 miles from my house to play with friends, baseball, swim etc...

Today's 10yr old have phones and STILL need to be with adults, planned play dates, chaperones, etc... The phones are not giving your kid an ounce of independence except what selfie to put up on


Instagram.

Wow ! So true.

[Anonymous]

I'd like to hear at teachers take on cell phones in schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd like to hear at teachers take on cell phones in schools.

I'm a teacher (MCPS) and I wrote 08:34.

[Anonymous]

Teacher here. At our high school cell phone use is allowed before school and at lunch.

Students flaunt that rule and walk into the classroom pecking away at their phones. Girls are worse than boys, I usually have to ask twice for kids to put away their phones.

As the other teacher stated it's a pain to try to take a phone away. The options are to write up a referral to the assistant principal or to call security. I have never received any feedback for any of the referrals that I have written so probably nothing happens.

Students are experts at typing under the desk. They can text to kids in other classrooms and right in the same class. Last year I had an incident where a kid texted his sibling in college for an answer on a test. Now during tests and exams all cell phones are left on my desk. If I have one less phone than student then the exam does not start.

Those naive parents who think that their darling kid needs to have a cell phone attached to them 16 hours a day should spend a day in my classroom.

[Anonymous]

I can't believe how many parents rationalize cellphones for safety. I would love to know the statistics on how many lives of preteens and teens were saved because they had a cell phone in hand compared to how many have died texting while walking, texting while driving, or committing suicide from instagram, text, social media abuse or photos/videos taken of them when they didn't know it. Hmmm?

[Anonymous]

If I have one less phone than student then the exam does not start.


My kid does not have a cell phone..I know he is a small minority but you have never had a kid without one?

[Anonymous]

In mcps, possession of a cell phone during a county exam automatically means a 0 on the exam. Just extend this rule to all in-class assessments and the problem will go away

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It should have to stayin the locker until after school ends. If teacher sees it, it's confiscated for the day. These phones are awful for kids anyway. I wish they'd ban them. If parents can't arrange pickups or something unexpected happens, call the school. Or just freaking show up when you said you would.

What if there is a problem at school? I had sports practices cancelled, or ended early, on occasion when I was in high school. Used the pay phone to call my mom.

Then you use the office phone and you saved yourself a quarter. Seriously, you all make your kids so dependent on them and then ask them not to use them during school? I work in a middle school and they are used all day long. Teachers have given up. It is really sad how kids at lunch don't even look at each other and talk anymore.

The office is open at 7pm? Serious question. Is there always someone in the office if there are extracurricular activities scheduled at the school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe how many parents rationalize cellphones for safety. I would love to know the statistics on how many lives of preteens and teens were saved because they had a cell phone in hand compared to how many have died texting while walking, texting while driving, or committing suicide from instagram, text, social media abuse or photos/videos taken of them when they didn't know it. Hmmm?

This is an excellent point. But we see from the crazy entitled lady earlier what a struggle it will be to prize these things out of their paws.

[Anonymous]

A year or two ago there was an early dismissal for snow. My ms child usually attended an after school program. We negligently had not covered what to do with this unexpected situation..actually didn't even think the program would be open. DS after seeing other kids from his after school programming heading to that bus did the same. There was a small amount of time when I didn't know where he was. My co-worker was sure this was an incident that would have me running to get him a cell phone. Nope..he was fine. He thought for himself. I don't panic if I don't know where he is for a short time probably because our family hardly ever uses cell phones.

I am not trying to convert the rest of the world..just pointing out that "need" for constant contact and "want" are 2 different things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It should have to stayin the locker until after school ends. If teacher sees it, it's confiscated for the day. These phones are awful for kids anyway. I wish they'd ban them. If parents can't arrange pickups or something unexpected happens, call the school. Or just freaking show up when you said you would.

What if there is a problem at school? I had sports practices cancelled, or ended early, on occasion when I was in high school. Used the pay phone to call my mom.

Then you use the office phone and you saved yourself a quarter. Seriously, you all make your kids so dependent on them and then ask them not to use them during school? I work in a middle school and they are used all day long. Teachers have given up. It is really sad how kids at lunch don't even look at each other and talk anymore.

The office is open at 7pm? Serious question. Is there always someone in the office if there are extracurricular activities scheduled at the school?

Yes, by state law there HAS to be an adult with keys while ANY child is in attendance. Whether it is a coach, janitor or office member. Can you tell me what extracurricular activities your child is in at middle or high school where there is no adult available? Do they coach/teach themselves? All PE offices have phones too. So do the library. I bet that coach/teacher would have a phone too. I would love to hear your example of your child locked out of the school alone where all the adults left him there.... please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It should have to stayin the locker until after school ends. If teacher sees it, it's confiscated for the day. These phones are awful for kids anyway. I wish they'd ban them. If parents can't arrange pickups or something unexpected happens, call the school. Or just freaking show up when you said you would.

What if there is a problem at school? I had sports practices cancelled, or ended early, on occasion when I was in high school. Used the pay phone to call my mom.

Then you use the office phone and you saved yourself a quarter. Seriously, you all make your kids so dependent on them and then ask them not to use them during school? I work in a middle school and they are used all day long. Teachers have given up. It is really sad how kids at lunch don't even look at each other and talk anymore.

The office is open at 7pm? Serious question. Is there always someone in the office if there are extracurricular activities scheduled at the school?

Yes, by state law there HAS to be an adult with keys while ANY child is in attendance. Whether it is a coach, janitor or office member. Can you tell me what extracurricular activities your child is in at middle or high school where there is no adult available? Do they coach/teach themselves? All PE offices have phones too. So do the library. I bet that coach/teacher would have a phone too. I would love to hear your example of your child locked out of the school alone where all the adults left him there.... please.

That's not the situation I was thinking of, at all. I just asked whether the front office was open after hours.

It's not about being locked out of the school so much as practice getting cancelled and needing to get a ride. Our offices were always locked. Coaches were there, but they often weren't employees of the school. So they didn't have access to gym office phones. Which was no big thing. There were pay phones and we used them often. I just wasn't raised to be dependent on school adults for things I considered personal business, like making sure I had a ride to and from extracurricular activities. So I'm naturally inclined to feel the same way about my kids.

[Anonymous]

I think a child having a phone is fine. However, if the school or teacher has a specific rule regarding the cellphone, then that rule needs to be applied. If the teachers are like the ones on here, saying it's too much work to take it away, then you are saying f it and so are the children. Cellphones need to be turned off in class. If a child is caught on the cellphone, immediately, needs to be sent to the office for the remainder of the class and given a 0 on the assignment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think a child having a phone is fine. However, if the school or teacher has a specific rule regarding the cellphone, then that rule needs to be applied. If the teachers are like the ones on here, saying it's too much work to take it away, then you are saying f it and so are the children. Cellphones need to be turned off in class. If a child is caught on the cellphone, immediately, needs to be sent to the office for the remainder of the class and given a 0 on the assignment.

+1. I want my kid to have a phone available after school, but it better stay in the locker or purse and not be used against the rules during school. If my kid is disrespectful enough to her teachers that she is using the phone during class and gets written up for it, there will be major consequences at home in addition to whatever discipline the school gives.

[Anonymous]

I'm a high school teacher. It's crazy how glued to their phones the kids are. They're trying to sneak them ALL DAY LONG. They're late for class, because they were texting or watching youtube in the restroom or at their lockers. They're doing it instead of paying attention or working in class. Teachers are supposed to take phones away if we see them out. As pp's mentioned, this is a waste of class time AND a waste of teachers' own time, because there's paperwork, plus (often) arguing with the student and/or the parent about it.

And the cheating! I cannot explain how much cheating there is, how bad they are at it, and how much they will blow smoke and lie when you catch them! If they put as much effort into learning as they do sneaking and storytelling, there'd be a lot more kids on the honor roll. I'm not just talking about "bad kids," either, it's rampant.

The parents are no help either. A surprising amount of parents will try to get their kid off the hook for cheating (but that's another issue). TONS of parents tell their kids to carry their phones and leave them on all day-- even though the school rule is that phones are supposed to be OFF and not on your person during instructional time.

Now, I'm also the mother of a high schooler. It frustrates me when I text my kid at after school activities and he hasn't remembered to turn his phone on (constantly). But, if it's an emergency, I can call the school office-- just like before cell phones!-- and they'll page him. IMO cellphones at school are more trouble than they're worth.