VIRGINIA BEACH
This past school year, Beach high school students faced an in-school suspension for using or even showing a cell phone during the school day.
The no-excuse policy was supposed to cut back on classroom distractions. But just as in each of the previous four school years, when a first incident led only to confiscation of the phone, the number of violations jumped by the hundreds.
"We were hoping the mere thought of suspension would have a greater effect," said Hazel Jessee, assistant superintendent for high schools. The high schools have 22,898 students.
She said the policy has had positive results, though. Teachers appear to be reporting more violations, and enforcement is more consistent in each school, she said.
There were 3,731 reported cell phone violations during the just-finished school year, including 426 second infractions, 57 third infractions and seven fourth infractions.
In 2003 there were 735 cell phone violations in all of the city's high schools. The increase has been more than fivefold.
Some students have complaints about the policy.
Blake Brown, 17, said many of his friends at First Colonial High School ran afoul of the new rules this past year.
"You get in trouble whether you are in class or not," he said. "In class, out of class, in the cafeteria, in the courtyard." As a result, he said, students text or place calls from the rest-room.
Brown said he agrees with banning calls in class: "You're there to learn." But it's impractical to expect the school office to process every student call, he said.
His phone was taken away this year when he answered it in the courtyard. It was his mother, who had a message about a doctor's appointment.
His mother, Shirley, said the phones provide too much temptation - for students and parents alike.
"I would do it again because it's an alternative I have," she said of calling her son in school. "It's in his pocket, and I know I can talk to him directly." Her proposed solution? "I don't think they should have cell phones in school."
Jessee said she wouldn't consider such a drastic stance.
"Saying cell phones shouldn't be in a person's life is not a reasonable thing. I'd like to use them productively."
For example, teachers could text assignment reminders to students. But that idea is years off, she said. "We have to get students to a place where they can be responsible users."
For now, students in the first generation to grow up with cells are grappling with how technology fits into their lives.
Ron Heh, 17, who will be a First Colonial senior this year, said the Beach's blanket policy is too harsh. He said it isn't distracting to students when others check their phones for messages a few times in a class. The real disruption is when a teacher stops class to confiscate a cell phone, he said.
"That's more distracting than the kid in back texting on his cell phone," he said.
Lauren Roth, (757) 222-5133, lauren.roth@pilotonline.com.
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nikki is right
Sad thing about Nikki's comment, parents won't read it, if the do they won't understand it or think it applies to them. Today's parents (as a general rule) are pathetic, and are raising spoiled brat's who get what they want when they want it. If the rules aren't tough enough....then make them tougher and ban cell phrone's from school property including parking lots and surrounding grounds. I completed high school and college without a cell, and turned out quite well.
Your kids are at school to learn. It looks to mean that's what you would want. Don't give us this lame excuse you need to contact your kid, if you do then call the school office.
Another thing missing from all VA public schools is required school uniforms. Dress you little darling in a uniform, leave the cell at home, and allow them to get an education. You are raising the future... God help us all!
Some parents forget
Some of the parents who are asking for equal enforcement should remember the teachers are there to teach their children, not to enforce anything. Parents who allow their kids to take the phones to school are asking for it. Who cares if one teacher is stricter than another? It's not their job to polcie the kids. Instead of going on about the kids 'right' to have a phone at school, perhaps you all should remember why they are there: to learn.
Helicopter parents, who are overly involved in every
Moment of their precious darling's lives, unless someone is dead or dying, there is absolutely no reason to have to talk to the precious darling during the school day. As for the precious darlings, they see all their friends all day long, what in the world do they have to talk and/or text about during the school day, the precious darlings generally don't have anything worth saying or hearing. Usually it's just mindless natter. And isn't it amazing that so many million adults got to adulthood without ever having a phone at their ready access. How about a little self-control - oh the precious darlings can't possibly have any because their parents or what resemble parents don't have any. What's frightening is that this next generation, most of whom are incapable of growing up, because of their helicopter parents and their insatiable appetite for all things garbage, will one day be leading the
CONSISTENCY IS THE KEY
In VB's sister cities, electronic communication policy is boldly posted in each classroom and conspicuously around the school buildings to eliminate any confusion. Children are expected to NOT carry cell phones or other electronic devices onto school property. Parents are made aware of this policy from the very first day of school and sign forms agreeing to this policy. There should be no confusion in the child's mind about the school's expectation, nor about the consequences of breaking that policy guideline. Suspension, whether in-school or out-of-school, is only imposed as a punishment for breaking rules. With regard to rules and policy, everyone (even teachers) is expected to comply. Parents and students cannot justifiably argue about fairness when policy is district-wide and clearly expressed. In some facilities, students are not permitted to make phone calls from the
RE: this is how you stop kids
"If their parents dont like it or the left wing media wants to run their mouths, cain them too!"
Just when did this become a left wing or right wing issue?
This is how you stop kids
This is how you stop kids from taking phones to school-- If you get caught then they cain you just like the kid in Singapor got while Clinton was president for spray painting a fence. I bet that kid wont go near a paint can or fence anymore. If their parents dont like it or the left wing media wants to run their mouths, cain them too! I promise you the problems will stop sooner than later.Its a fact that what they are doing now doesnt work.
Selective enforcement??
Okay, I got pulled for speeding (not really) but I was going with the flow of traffic. Is that selective enforcement? Maybe, maybe not, but the point is that I was indeed speeding so I need to accept responsibility for my actions. Responsibility, a foreign concept to many in this generation.
As for "needing to contact".. HA... if they have a cell, they have VoiceMail... and TEXT will be delivered when the phone is turned back on. So as soon as they get ready to leave for their appointment and turn the phone on... whatever message Mommy dearest needed to rely is going to be there, they don't have to get that message in the middle of English class!
Finally... does anyone here realize how much CHEATING is done on tests because of cell phones? Oh the stories I am aware of, both from teachers and students. But not to worry, these are our going to be the leaders of our grandchildren and we have taught them wel
gertz
Please don't put words into my mouth. When she got caught she got suspended and that's what she deserved. I could have picked it up the next day but I let it sit there for two weeks. My daughter knows that if she breaks the rules she accepts the consequences. The point was that if the rule had been enforced from Day 1 the kids wouldn't continue to use their cell phones at school.
LHS class president said in his commencement speech that one of the biggest challenges of seniors this past year was finding new ways of texting without getting caught. Got a big laugh. Yeah, they took it pretty seriously.
jmo
Cellphones
I can not believe what I am hearing, from parents of all people. Kids should not be allowed to use or take cell phones to school. I understand the convience of a child being able to call their parents if needed. But if they are at school or a school function the office has a phone. And if parents do not think thats enough fight for your childs schools to have more pay phones. A cell phone is not a neccesity. I am 25, I have not had a phone in 2 yrs and i don't want one, but I understand how it makes things so much easier. It's amazing that parents will not even enforce a rule set by the school. That is not a good example. When I was in middle school the biggest distraction that we had at the time was the new calculators that had games on them, and that became an issue. But rules were set, teachers AND parents enforced them and we survived. Why are parents trying to contact their kids during school hours on the cell phon
well isn't that a shame
"If teachers had taken my daughters phone away everytime she used it she would have spent her entire senior year suspended"
And that's exactly what should have happened she should have been suspended. What lessons are you teaching your kids when you support their behavior of breaking the rules?
Suspension Vs. Your Child's Safety
A simple way of correcting the issue would be to have the teacher enforce the policy in a non-threatening way. A teacher could simply remind their students to turn off their cell phones at the start of class, and if they are seen distracted by their phone in class then they will receive a zero on a quiz/homework. (As a college professor this is my policy) Sometimes EMERGENCIES happen. I have had a class interrupted by a cell phone only to have my student leave class abruptly (her mother just passed away). My father was in the Pentagon on 9/11 and my sister went to Virginia Tech, without cell phones on them at the time my family would have not known they were safe. With school shootings on the rise and a number of students working a job or doing clubs after school a cell phone is a must have! If anything were to happen to a student during or after school, they need to be able to reach their parents. Period.
Enforcement
Everyone has mad some vadid point but the common thread in both this story and the Holland/Rosemont intersection story is ENFORCEMENT. If the authorities (school, police, etc.) consistantly enforce ALL the rules then everyone tends to obey them. Enforcing small crimes reduces larger crimes over time. In this case - teachers should enforce it in classroom 100% of the time, but students should be able to use them duing breacks, lunch, etc. If they are late to class because of it, then take action on the tardiness.
Call me heartless and old fashioned but if they are not taught self-discipline at home, we need to teach it in school.
Be Fair
I think that consistency in applying the policy is the key to success in our schools.
For those who believe that cell phones should be completely banned - the devices can "legally" be used after school hours, and my children carry theirs so that they can contact me when there is a change in plans for their extracurricular or athletic practice/game schedule -- which is often, so I can either leave the office earlier to pick them up or approve an alternate mode of returning home. My son's phone was confiscated 2 years ago when he displayed it (it was turned off) in class. My daughter, who carries a purse, has an easier time of concealing her phone, so far this has made it easier for her.
For the record, my daughter carried her phone (illegally) during Middle School, as did most of her peers, as she participated in after-school activities then as well.
I hear from both my kids about the widespread calling and texting that goes on during instructional periods, and I have stressed that they are not to break the rules themselves. Their reports includes both students and teachers (who in some instances have stopped mid-lesson to answer their cell phone). Shouldn't the polic
Donvabch
As nice as that would be, I don't think the schools can confiscate personal property long term without involving the parents at some point. If a phone is confiscated, the parents should be made to see a school official (in person) on the principal level and retrieve the phone and be told that the student will serve whatever ISS/detention there is to serve and then that future violations will result in further disciplinary actions up to and including OSS or even a nominal monetary fine to the parents. Ultimately, you have to put the onus back on the parents for their child's behavior.
It's simple, really.
I personally feel we've gone overboard in identifying the problem, but not far enough in solving it. One rule for all: if someone is caught using a phone IN CLASS, in any way, shape or form....confiscate it for the balance of the school year. No ifs, ends or buts.
Another thought: the use of school uniforms would be a whole lot cheaper for parents, and would lessen the distractions for overly hormonal teen lotharios. It seems to me that people spend too much time judging each other's worth by what they wear, drive and live in, rather than what they are. Maybe it's time to change that mindset. Perhaps it begins in school.
hey, Retired guy...
Back in the days when your entire family survived on one black rotary phone, you probably werent worried about situations like the Columbine or the Va Tech massacre either.
Times have changed, and in some ways not for the better, and in this day and age, i want to be able to reach my child, and him me, AT ANY GIVEN TIME.
I can really imagaine how effecient an entire school body lining up at the two or three land lines to call their families would be in the event of an unforssen disaster.
overzealous my behind!
If teachers had taken my daughters phone away everytime she used it she would have spent her entire senior year suspended. In our family's experience teachers only enforce the cell phone rules if the teacher is distracted by the use. My daughter did get her phone taken away - in May, after using it in the same classroom, in front of the same teacher, throughout the year.
Kids violate the cell phone rule because it's not uniformly enforced. Selective enforcement was the norm at Landstown this past year.
jmo
Use Common Sense...
A reasonable person acknowledges cellphones are now part of the paradigm of our current life. For students to be suspended for mere possession of a cellphone inside a school building/grounds is stupid and overzealous. Why don't we have a cellphone bonfire?
Acknowledgement that cellphones are here to stay would create something like "cellphone zone" or some "cellphone breaktime" during the day for students to check on messages or to call. USING (not mere possession) the cellphone outside of that zone or breaktime would merit suspensions.
These days of school tragedies like Columbine and Virginia Tech, and of child abductions, mere possession of cellphones shouldn't be punished. It just might save lives, including yours.
texting in the boys room
Texting in the boys room.... Texting in the boys room... Teacher don't you fill me, up with the rules... 'cause everybody knows that cell phones ain't allowed in school. I bet the little snotty brittney spears wannabes just roll their eyes when they are told to put away their phones.
Should Worry More About Drugs
As a mom with a child at a Beach high school (who does not have a cell phone), I am more concerned about the lack of concern the schools show for the drug activity right under their noses. My child has told me about kids rolling joints during exams and kids who have offered her LSD and PCP at school. She has told me that you get in trouble more for having a cell phone than doing drugs and I believe that. While I agree that cell phones are distracting, I think kids should be able to keep them in their backpacks, turned off during school hours.
enforcement sporadic at best
Depending upon the administration at the school, this rule is either enforced or ignored. Much of the blame lies with teachers who side with students and do not enforce the rule and with administrators who feel they have bigger battles to tackle than a cell phone. As usual at the beach, those students that follow the rules stand by and watch as others routinely violate them with no consequences.
How did we make it?
No cell phones, no internet, no ipods, no calculators, no computers, laptops etc etc etc and you know what? we made it! If I had brought something to school I should not have it was confiscated and only returned to a parent who had to come to the school to get it, you can bet I was taught a lesson and did not do it again.
The problem is teachers and schools hands are tied and bad parenting in general.
Empty the backpacks of everything except school needs, enforced dress codes, the old way instead of ritalin control and that paddle and cane I seem to remember the threat of and remembrance keeping me in line!
Conficate
They should do like the Federal, State and City Court buildings do. At the entrance to the court buildings they have security personnel there and you have to empty out your pockets and other items which you are carrying. Cell phones and other items that are not allowed in court are held by the security personnel until you leave the court building. You are given a ticket with a number on it and your items are also marked for when you depart the building you can retrieve your item(s). School is for learning not texting or receiving phone calls when in the school building. The office has phones and if it is something to be passed on to the student, they will write it down and get the message to the student. Same thing if a parent comes to school to get a child the parent doesn't run through the school looking for their child, they go to the office and they will get the child. If they can't leave the cell phones a
Parents are contributing to the problem
Shirley Brown is a good example of why there are so many violations - like a lot of other parents, she is exacerbating the problem by helping her son violate the rule, rather than making sure he obeys it. If the parents aren't behaving responsibly, we can't expect the kids to comply. There are other ways for parents to get in touch, and there is no reason a kid needs to have that phone during the school day - none. Maybe it's time to pass a local ordinance and start issuing invitations to juvenile court for violations. I guarantee that when it starts costing parents some money, it will get their attention.
It seems to me to be a case
It seems to me to be a case of the students not respecting the rules of their school. Don't use cell phones doesn't mean don't use cell phones unless you feel like it. Overzealous enforcement? maybe. Tell them not to use cell phones, expect them not to use cell phones. They use cell phones, teach them that there are consequences for their actions. Probably a more important lesson than social studies.
"What Seems To Be The Problem?"
The subject line quote is burned into my memory by my Assistant Principle, Mr. Freed. I managed to get through 12 years of school with out making or receiving a single phone call. Just ban cell phones from school property. If there was an emergency, parents could always call the school office. And on the rare occassion a student needed to make an important call, the school secretary would let you use her phone - but it better be an important phone call!
really needed?
Is a phone needed at school? I don't think so! I never had one and survived quite nicely. Need to contact a student....call the school's office and they can get him/her, it's easy and will save you money at the same time. Student really need to reach someone...go to the office and make the call. No problems with erratic enforcement of a policy that isn't needed anyway....bigger issues are out there in our schools like reading, writing and arithmatic. No phones period=no issues/problems. HAGD Tidewater.
Erratic enforcement
msanders, I wonder what you think about the erratic enforcement? I talked to a student last year whose cell phone went off THREE times the first week of school. No suspensions, though. Minority student in magnet program. I didn't think much of the policy after that if in certain schools certain students are not disciplined.
Zero Tolerance
VGilliam,
What part of Zero Tolerance did you miss? He may not have been using it, but it's not supposed to be there in the first place. I suggest you read the 1st paragraph again. It says, "in-school suspension for even showing a cell phone during school hours". Fire drill happened during school hours on school grounds under their rules. Guilty, busted, get over it. You cannot partially agree or disagree. It's all there in black and white whithout obscurity.
No one likes changes except a wet baby (Mark Twain)
Changes are messy, and technological advances create social change. Students (and many adults) need to learn how to handle the responsibility of cell phone manners and face the consequences of failure to follow the rules. Over-reacting w/zero thinking, er, tolerance only increases resistance. And then the dilemma: yes, rules are important; stay on your side of the road. Yet, social change only comes from resistance to outdated procedures/tradition. Remember when pants were forbidden for girls?