©
By Alicia P.Q. Wittmeyer
CHESAPEAKE
Earlier this year, rumors spread through Western Branch High School that a large fight was going to take place. Hundreds of students stayed home from school, and hundreds more were picked up early.
Much of the rumor-spreading was done via text message, said Wayne Martin, director of student services at Chesapeake Public Schools.
The incident convinced Chesapeake Public Schools officials that it was time to update its rules on cell phone use, which now ban students from carrying phones during the school day.
"Times change," Martin said. "And as times change, we have to be flexible, and we have to change."
The last time Chesapeake Public Schools updated its cell phone rules was in 1997, said school division spokesman Tom Cupitt.
The school board is considering a policy that would allow students in grades six through 12 to bring cell phones on campus but require that they be turned off and stored in lockers.
The first time a student is caught with a phone, it would be taken away for the rest of the school day.
Punishments would build up until the fourth offense, when the phone could be returned to a parent and the student would get out-of-school suspension.
Students in kindergarten through fif th grades would be banned from bringing phones to campus.
The schools' current guidelines don't give specific punishments for breaking the rules.
"We really have no guidelines, and there is a great inconsistency from school to school on how this is managed," said Superintendent W. Randolph Nichols.
A committee of school officials and parents discussed banning phones from school grounds completely.
Cell phones are forbidden in Norfolk Public Schools.
But that seemed unrealistic, Martin said.
"It's a way of life. People have cell phones. And I don't think we were ready to say we're going to ban cell phones for everybody," he said.
Alicia Wittmeyer, (757) 222-5216, alicia.wittmeyer@pilotonline.com
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Twitter
Google
Yahoo
Take a page from the VBCPS book...
...there cell phones that are on get the student suspension, even on the very first offense (although this policy is inconsistently enforced from school to school and teacher to teacher).
If you're going to require cell phones to remain in lockers during the school day, make sure you give students ample time to get TO their lockers before and after school!
Cell phones in public schools
I do not think students should be allowed to carry cell phones to school or on the school buses. They just passed a law that went into affect July 1 that school bus drivers could not posses a cell phone while operating a school bus but they have to listen to the students cell phones ring and have all of that distraction as well It should be No Cell Phones Period on School property.
Think Twice
I am a parent who has faced the facts that with the school safety and public safety the way it is I am all for MY child having a cell phone at school. My children respect me and other adults their phones are not used during school hours. Looking at your individual phone bill daily would tell you other wise. I have peace of mind as well as my children have peace of mind that if something, and I hope there never is a something happens I can be called. The parents of Columbine students had only that breif moment of contact when their children were trapped and needed help. VA Tech students, which of course are older but they had a way to call for help when someone took it into their hands that education and learning were not the plan for the day. My family lived through a tornado tearing apart our neighborhood with not much warning and we needed to know where each other was at, (ie. after school program, work, a friends house) needing to make sure everyone was ok after our home became off limits became important and with my children having their cell phones they were able to tell me they were ok.
good and bad
Cell phone are obviously a distraction, however, they can also be an asset. They can be used in an emergency situation - look at all the other nationwide tragedies that happened and the cell phone actually helped people. It's a tough call to make, that's for sure. I just hope they look at all the aspects involved before they do something that they might end up regretting one day.
cell phones
my sons will always have a cell phone with them, no matter the rules. we have seen the importance of communication first hand here in Va. and that is why they will carry one at all times, here we have schools wanting to alert students with global texting, but yet they want to take them away from them. makes no sense.
oh ok
The school system is slow and too generous with their decision. It's a start nonetheless. There is NO capacity that a cell phone is needed during the school day. Once school is over, it's fine. Disconnect from relying on such technology all the time. It'll make your mind go blank with what to do when a storm knocks out cell phone towers, or when oneself is in a 'dead-zone,' and more. You lose your self-reliance.
Ridiculous
"We really have no guidelines, and there is a great inconsistency from school to school on how this is managed," said Superintendent W. Randolph Nichols.
So make a decision and stick with it.
What's next GPS so the kids don't get lost between classes?