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By Dr. Harry Tennant
Tuesday, December 7, 2010 Discipline: Elliott, Phone Home One of the biggest "small" headaches I dealt with as a school administrator was the student cell phone issue. It seems to me, at least here in Texas, that it is pretty common practice to restrict cell phone use on campus and penalize students who break the rules by, most commonly, temporarily confiscating the phone and fining the offender before the phone is returned. I have a sense that the going rate is about $15 per infraction. I have fought some serious fights over this one. Devastated students, outraged parents, and (lately) a whole bunch of questions in my mind about how to find the fine line on the issue. I note "lately" because over the last few years I have started to be more sympathetic to arguments for students to not only possess these on campus, but to be allowed to use them relatively freely. After all, new generation cell phones are basically mini-computers. At the discretion of the classroom teacher, can they (should they) be used as one more instructional tool in the classroom ...and around campus? Other even more challenging developments are around the corner. Will we begin confiscating student clothing once the cell phone technology is imbedded into their fabric the way other electronic devices are increasingly being integrated into clothing? Will it be concealed so cleverly that we never know they are even using it? I could go on. What is the answer to this one? What are your thoughts and experiences? Below is a report on Fox News from yesterday, December 6th, on the issue. Funny, they present the story as if this school is path breaking and particularly tough on the issue, but in my experience this battle has been fought on these terms in Texas schools (and no doubt across this country) for years. Posted at 10:01 AM Keywords: Discipline , Cell Phone Policy , Cell Phones 2 Comments |
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Jones said... I believe that the quicker we grasp and hold tight to the innovative ways to use technology, the quicker we will close the gap of students and their connection to education. Technology is their foundation and for the educators to continue our attempt crumbling their foundation is only widening our gap of not only reaching them but excelling with them. Cell phone use in school is just one more way to connect with them and allow them to transfer what we are teaching into their language of learning. Charging money or giving infractions for getting caught is definitely not keeping them from using them. Why not use them to your educational advantage? Tuesday, December 7, 2010 1:48 PM |