Five days seems a bit excessive if it was a first time offense. Maybe instead they should require the parent to come and pick up the phone. Since the policy has been in the school handbook for two years do you think the parents have grounds for their charges? ============================ Parents File Charges After School Takes Phone School Policy Is To Keep Phones For 5 Days POSTED: 7:15 am EST November 17, 2006 School officials in Lone Grove, Okla., confiscated a student's cell phone, and now they may be in trouble with police. Parents have gone to police to file charges of larceny against two school officials. A student at Lone Grove High School took the phone to school and it rang in the middle of class, according to Oklahoma TV station KTEN. After the class interruption, the teacher confiscated the phone and took it to the principal's office. School policy is to hold the phone for five days, but the student's mother told the TV station that isn't good enough. Yvonne Walker wants her son to have the phone in case of emergency. The 16-year-old's parents said they got the phone for the teen so that he could contact them -- saying that it's not helping him for school officials to have the phone. When school officials said that they couldn't break policy or make special considerations for anyone, the parents called police. The officer sent to the scene filed a report, which is now at the district attorney's office for consideration of larceny charges. "I understand that they need to discipline the kids and he was wrong, and he understands that he was wrong and he should be disciplined at home, and we will do that," Walker said. The boy's father said that even though the superintendent said that he couldn't break school policy, parents and the student should have the right to go and pick up their cell phone. Superintendent Gary Scott told the local TV station that the school board approves school policies in the handbook every year, and that school officials don't make exceptions to the rules for anyone. The policy says that wireless telecommunications devices are not allowed at school during school hours and that confiscated objects are kept for five days. That policy has been in effect for two years. Scott said although they have taken away several cell phones, this is the first time police have been called.
There seems to be conflicting statements here. The Mother wants the kids to have the phone in case of emergency, the Father says they should have the right to pick up the phone. My opinion, if they want the kid to have the phone strictly for emergencies, they should get him one of those baby phones that can only call (and be called from) specific numbers. Obviously the kid cannot abide by the wishes of his parents and use the phone only for emergencies.
Good for the school! I hate it when I am teaching a seminar and these things go off in the class, it is rude to everyone in the class. Five days seems like a reasonable punishment, it sounds like Mom would just give him the phone again after she picked it up.
The phone is not going to be destroyed, just held. If there is a policy against cell phones, as was indicated, there seems to be no legal ground for this action. If you have any prohibited items in your possession when you go through security at the airport you will loose them as well. It seems from the tone of the parents the child would be given the phone as soon as it is returned regardless of the rules.
Here in JoCo at least at Clayton HS the rule is it rings once they take it and parents pick it up. If it happens again, the school holds it until the last day of school in June. One of my co-workers went on a tear one day saying if they so much as touch his kids phone he would sue. I think the school in this case and here are right on. Too many damned kids are too damned disrespectful. I have a buddy who is a science teacher in NYC. A student had a tongue piercing and asked to go rinse with antiseptic during class. My friend told him to sit down and shut up. He told him he didn't care if he got gangrene he could rinse on his own time, class time belongs to the teacher.
i kept cellphone when i was going through school, and i knew that if it rang it was gone, so i kept it on silent at all times. one time i forgot was during an EOC and my mom called to leave me a voice mail, and it rang out loudly during the test, then this poor teacher ran over and grabbed it from me as i pulled it out to turn it off, and she couldn't figure out how to make it stop, so she ran out of the room holding it in front of her like it was haunted. That was funny as hell ;x
Yeah, the kid should have left it off. But five days is a long time.The school should change their policy for everyone. If the parent comes to pick it up , then that should be ok. They could send the kid home or in school suspention for a day. I could not go 5 days without my phone. But I do know to cut it off when the rules apply. (Court, school meetings, and in office buildings).
Here's my thoughts: GO SCHOOL SYSTEM FOR HAVING RULES AND ENFORCING THEM EQUALLY FOR EVERYONE! First, if your child is at school, and something happens, they can call home. Parents who feel they must have it because of band, sports, dances, etc. are fooling themselves into giving their children a reason to break the rules. (I wonder how many of these kids are breaking OTHER rules their parents may or may not know about!) The sponsors, coaches, etc. all have access to phones in the school that can be used to call parents. I was involved in a lot in school and after school including a part-time job, and I did not need a cell phone. If I was out with friends you can be assured my mother knew where I was, who I was with, and how to get ahold of me if needed. How often (honestly) are children in situations where there is no telephone access? What amazes me even more are the ELEMENTARY school kids with cell phones. Do you really allow your first through fifth grade child to go places WITHOUT you, where you cannot contact them? If my children are at friends' houses, I know the number, and they know our number. Even my 5 year-old knows how to call home. My son insists he needs one for soccer. I asked him why since I am there at the practices and games. Who is he going to call? Having a cell phone is not a "right" or a "privilege"; it is a luxury that is necessary for some people, but not for children. For Nevilock, by STATE rules, if students were not finished with the test, your cell phone could have been ruled a misadministration which means everyone in the room, even those finished, could have been forced to take a NEW version of the test on a different day. If the teacher had allowed you to handle the phone, it would have definitely been a misadministration and there WOULD have been a retake involved. Do you really think that would have been funny to your friends?
wtf? Yes, i realize my phone going off did risk a misadministration. my friends and i were a bit worried about that, what was funny was the teacher running out of the room with my phone at arms length like it was about to attack her. just because a child has a cellphone, that does not mean that the child is irresponsible and the parents allow it, or vice versa. Cellphones provide very important communication between parents and children that isn't possible without one. the world isn't the same as it was when you were a kid, its changing. When you're out playing, especially when you're out playing in the country, emergencies can come up, its a very good thing to be able to call and say "We need help."
Yes. ;D <3 t9 ;x took a while to get used to it, but now that i'm used to it i can type on my phone almost as fast as i can on my keyboard.
My sister teaches college-level math, and of course, in advanced math classes, students can use calculators in class. The first time a student claimed to be using the calculator in his cell phone, she thought that was a good idea -- for about a minute or two, 'til she realized what he was really doing. :wink: Now the rule is cell phones stay out of sight, as well as silent, in her class.
I had a cell phone in high school (now I am showing my age ) but I left it in my car througout the day. There was one instance I took it into school, and my mom sent a note asking the teacher to allow it as long as I kept it on vibrate, my grandmother was very ill in the hospital and she wanted to reach me ASAP incase something happened and I needed to leave. There were several instances early in high school when she had called the school and asked them to give me a message re, when I was getting picked up or something and I never got the messages. So this was the best way!
The teacher freaked because that was considered a testing misadministration and the teacher is the one who gets in trouble. The county office and the state DPI are very serious about misadministrations. Some Educators lose their jobs every year for these.
I know most of my students have a phone, but I constantly remind them to be smart about it...keep it in your bag OFF..not vibrate. Sometimes you can hear a vibrate as well as phones beeping to go in and out of service. The students know that they are not allowed at school though...so...they are taking a risk even with them in their bags. In saying that, I also survived through high school and college without a cell. I used a pay phone or office phone if I needed to contact my parents. As far as the school goes, rules are rules...handbooks are distributed at the beginning of the year that address discipline procedures. I have read both the student handbook as well as the staff heandbook for my school to make sure I know what I am talking about when asked questions.
