The Virginian-Pilot
©
NORFOLK
Among the nefarious items considered contraband in Norfolk's schools is something Jennifer Palmer says she wants her children to carry: a cellphone.
Norfolk is the only division in South Hampton Roads that bars students from having cellphones at school. Palmer said she and other parents will beseech the School Board at its meeting tonight not to penalize students for simply possessing phones on campus.
"The easiest thing would be just to stop the search and seizure part of their policy," Palmer said. "Allow the children to carry the phone, just don't let them use it."
Norfolk's policy, which also extends to iPods, pocket lasers and other electronic devices, is to confiscate any student phone that is discovered. On a first offense, the phone is returned to the student at the end of the day and parents are notified.
Parents are required to pick up the confiscated phone on the second offense at a conference with a school administrator, and the student may face a disciplinary penalty. If there is a third offense, the phone is confiscated until the end of the school year and a disciplinary penalty is imposed on the student.
The ban covers students on school grounds even before and after the instructional day. Students attending after-school extracurricular activities can carry a phone only if they first went home after school to fetch it.
In contrast, the Virginia Beach division lets middle and high school students have cellphones, though the phones cannot be used or displayed during the school day.
Chesapeake allows phones on school grounds but requires that the phones be stored in a locker or car. In Suffolk, phones are allowed only for high school students with written permission and cannot be used or "displayed" during the school day or on school buses.
Portsmouth lets students bring phones onto school property but requires the devices be turned off and out of sight until the end of the school day.
Norfolk spokeswoman Elizabeth Thiel Mather said she did not know how long the division's policy has been in place. She said there were 2,640 incidents involving cellphone violations in 2010-11.
Norfolk division statistics for suspensions and expulsions in 2010-11 show that more than 150 high school students drew one or the other penalty for violating the school system's ban on electronic devices in general.
Palmer, who has daughters in Norfolk middle and high schools, said cellphones enhance students' safety while they are on the way to or from school. The devices are particularly crucial for parents trying to find and pick up their children following after-school athletic and extracurricular events, she said.
In past discussions, Norfolk administrators have said students can abuse cellphones in various ways, including taking inappropriate photos.
Steven G. Vegh, (757) 446-2417, steven.vegh@pilotonline.com
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Rules should cover behavior, not potential behavior
My Norfolk public school student's bus was an hour late getting home this afternoon because of problems getting a bus and a substitute driver in place. I had no idea where she was because she isn't allowed to have a cell phone at school. The school office was closed. She got home just as I was leaving to search for her. To those who complain that phones are disruptive, please remember that they are only disruptive when they are used in violation of the rules, not when they are stowed and silent. The teacher bears the same responsibility for addressing rule violations related to technology as s/he does with other behavior issues. This is an important safety issue! Please fix it.
Great Idea
I think this is a great idea. Require that every student give their cell phone and email address to the teacher and he/she (the teacher) can just text/email the homework or classwork right to the device. Then when Johnny/Suzie doesn't excel in class, the teacher can pull the text/email record and show that they got the message. Heck, why not just do away with brick and mortar schools. The US is in the crapper as far as education (I blame SOL's and NCLB because neither program allows teachers to teach or engage), might as well knock it down a few more notches, what do we have to loose?
i AGREE THIS WHERE I KEEP
i AGREE THIS WHERE I KEEP TRACK OF MY KID AFTERSCHOOL. NOT NEEDED ANH OTHER TIME BUT WHAT DO THEY DO WITH IT.I THINK KIDS ARE RESPONSIBLE ENOUGH I NEED MIND TO HAVE HERS. NOT BECAUSE OF ANYONE ELSE BUT SOMETIMES I NEED MY CHILD WHEN SHE DON'T NEED ME.
Technology
There will come a day in the not too distant future where students will all have iPads or similar devices in class. What then? iPads can text other iPads, iPhones, iTouches ... have access to the internet etc. Technology can't be stopped, for better or worse, so it has to be dealt with and given proper regulations and punishments, not pushed out.
As a teacher in Norfolk...
I would be fine with keeping cell phones off in lockers or cars, but that is not reality for most of my students. There is the idea that they are entitled to use these phones whenever and wherever. I do not bring my phone into the school because, there are phones in the school if I need them. Students do not need a phone while at school. If they are there for after school activities there are phones available. Cell phones are the number one distraction that I deal with on a daily basis and it's not because students are setting up rides home after school or practice.
Technology
There will come a day in the not too distant future where students will all have iPads or similar devices in class. What then? iPads can text other iPads, iPhones, iTouches ... have access to the internet etc. Technology can't be stopped, for better or worse, so it has to be dealt with and given proper regulations and punishments, not pushed out.
As a teacher in Norfolk...
I would be fine with keeping cell phones off in lockers or cars, but that is not reality for most of my students. There is the idea that they are entitled to use these phones whenever and wherever. I do not bring my phone into the school because, there are phones in the school if I need them. Students do not need a phone while at school. If they are there for after school activities there are phones available. Cell phones are the number one distraction that I deal with on a daily basis and it's not because students are setting up rides home after school or practice.
junior and missy don't need a phone at school any more than
Junior and Missy don't need a cell phone at school any more than their parents do while driving with one at their ear EVERY time then get in a vehicle to drive.
School Cell Phone Policies Need To Be Stictly Enforced
If the Norfolk School Board reads this article in the Virginian Pilot and decides to let students bring cell phones to school, then they need to strictly enforce the cell phone rules. Chesapeake Public Schools have cell phone rules. In middle school and high school, the cell phone must be off and in the student's locker or car during the school day. Sometimes, they are enfored. Sometimes, they are not. Some staff and administrators see students texting in class or in the hallway during the school day and give students no consequence for their action. They just tell the student, "Don't do it again!" An hour later, the same student is texting in another class. The student may get punished by another staff or may not get punished.
Solution: block them
If some students need phones before and after school*, and no student needs one during school, install a phone blocker at the school, turned on during school hours.
--during the day, any child with an emergency can go to the office; any parent with an emergency can call the office.
--after school they can call mommy.
--teachers (or anyone else but don't get me started) don't need cell phones, either.
--the cost is a lot less than the time wasted to deal with two thousand six hundred infactions a year (multiply by 15 minutes each time hourly wage).
--no more worry about where the phone is, is it really off, and cheating by those who aren't going to obey any rule anyway.
why isn't this a perfect solution?
*not saying they do, but...