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Hang it up in class? State School Board cell-phone policy in the works

Adults can put their heads together and be as creative as they want in making new policy, but just try to stop the kids from doing exactly what they want. Just try. As usual schools and parents are in their own private Idaho trying to make life unbearable and making themselves look ever more ridiculous. Get a life.

To Many people are controlled by their Cell Phone. I have not figured out how you can go through the College Socialization Process if your have to keep answering your cell phone with your control freak boy friend on the other end.

Mr./Ms Eternal Companion could walk right by you and you would be talking on your phone. I am not sure how you pay attention to what is going on in class.

In the Business School I recently Graduated from you had to keep your cell phone off in class. but some people would get up and leave to take calls, and some had a how dare you disturb me attitude.

I have one but I kept mine off unless I wanted to call someone.

They also take pictures of what is going on in class and send them.

I remember when only the big shots had Pagers and they went off in Church. Then the big shot had to get up and make a phone call.

My whole family has phones and if the teacher takes it, they get to keep it. My Fosters Kids have a Phone, I provide so I can keep track of them.

Cell phones have no place in school or vehicles. How do parents expect students to learn if they keep bothering them to remind them of tasks or chores? There must be controls in the schools and cell phones are not a tool for education. Not all students have cell phones and if I had a teenager or underage child they wouldn't have a cell phone. Then if they wanted a cell phone they would not take it to school or use it at school. It's hard enough to have order in a class it students are allowed to receive and make calls that disturb the whole class. This technology is not a tool for education, its for communication. Teachers never called students homes in the past to remind them of home work or testing so why should they start now? That is what responsibilty is for the students, for them to be responsible for their assignments and tasks as students. Are we going to let them go through life as brain dead students who can only care about their hormonal desires? We have enough of them in government now.

Requiring a school to do something they have already done five to ten years ago is a waste of paperwork and manpower. That they bring this up now shows just how out of touch with reality that our representatives are. First they think Vouchers are great for us. Now they think that cell phones are going to be a problem since our representatives have just recently been informed of their invention.

Wake up legislature, it isn't still 1999!

Schools realized that cells were a problem a decade ago. They drafted policies that disallow cell phone usage in class, but have a difficult time enforcing them. Creating a law that has zero effect on existing schools wastes taxpayer resources.

I'm glad this issue is being talked about. I don't think parents should leave this entirely up to the state or schools - we're ultimately responsible for raising our children after all - but it is reasonable to establish some limits.

Parents set limits on most aspects of childrens' lives and activities (bedtimes, how far they can go from home on their own to play, etc.), so this shouldn't be any different. We limit our own kids' access to electronic devices (no personal cell phone until HS), and when they get them we set limits on when they can use them.

Our high school also has limits - no electronic devices other than calculators during class time. Anyone who's been in a meeting with people who won't turn their phones off understands this.

One of the biggest problems we'll face with this issue is parents who won't set limits on themselves (driving while on the phone, taking calls loudly in quiet public places), then can't understand why they can't enforce limits on their kids.

Schools still use an 18th Century procedure in the 21st Century and need to learn to adapt to the benefits of technology. There is more information available on the Internet than on any school or college campus. Keep children and youth home to learn on the Internet and save taxpayers' money. Learner led learning is most effective!

Our teens are becoming phone freaks and are increasingly loosing conventional communication skills. Cell phones and text messaging have no place in the public education system.

TURN THEM OFF AND LEARN SOMETHING!

It is incredible how many parents have had the wool pulled over their eyes by their teenagers on the reasons why they need a cell phone.
I can understand lending a cellphone to your kid if they are going out late at night for safety reasons, but come on, does a kid need a cell phone so that they can be safe in math.
Does a kid really need to be texted about a dentist appointment. Kids remember things and generally a kid will remember a dentist appointment if you tell them, in person, before they go to school.
Another thing I wonder is how is everyone affording multiple cell phones? I look at my budget and there is no way I could afford a cell phone for myself let alone a phone for everyone in my family with all the enabled features.
I guess I just yearn for simpler times and I am only 27.

I have never liked cell phones very much so I wouldn't mind of it haded passed.

Once again, the State Board is issuing a mandate to schools for something that has already been in place for years. It makes me wonder if any of them have even visited a school recently.

I am more inclined to think that the solution is to perfect and regulate localized cell-phone blocking technology. Seems like any school, home, or business should be able to block calls within their interior if they want to, so long as notice is given so people can choose not to go there if they just have to be "communicado."

Cell phone addiction is becoming one of the plagues of our society. It seems sometimes that there are no activities in this world where people can just go and enjoy them without having to have their cell phones on. I understand their convenience and I understand their use in the case of emergencies, but, truth be told, they have become a ball and chain for many people. My employment has issued me a cell phone so I can use it for work needs (I manage the thought and need to be contacted from time to time). What I'm finding is that I really don't NEED to use it that much and that if I forget it my life does not suddenly end as many people feel would happen if they lost theirs.
We need to start now by teaching our children that they do not NEED cell phones. Human society has survived thousands of years without them and we still can. I'm all for a zero tolerance rule in school. If a student is caught using their phone during class for any reason except an emergency, their phones should be confiscated until the end of the day.

I had a recent conversation with a teenager who had difficulty expressing his thoughts in a cohesive manner for me to understand. Finally after much frustration he took out his cell phone to my surprise and begin punching numbers like a mad man. When I asked what he was doing he showed me what he had texted. "sry bt i fel btr f im on my fone"

I think a statewide decision is too broad and far-reaching. Classroom control needs to be more localized to be effective. Teachers need the flexibility to use tools they deem effective and to prohibit or restrict use of "toys" in the classroom appropriately. For the state board to say "No" to all eliminates creative uses by teachers for educational purposes. This needs to be decided school by school with the districts supporting school administrators in making appropriate rules for their own campuses.

I had a class at Weber where a guy answered his phone in the middle of class and just started talking. The professor was taken aback and didn't know what to do. It was the most pathetic display of bad manners I have ever seen.

On another note, the parents who feel the need to text their kids during school are part of the problem. My wife taught high school and had a student's phone go off in class. My wife answered the phone and it was the student's mom calling him. The best part was when my wife told the mom that she was her son's teacher and it was the middle of class, the mom asked my wife to give him a message.

The real answer is for parents to teach their kids that there are times when phones MUST be turned off and there are times when it is okay to use your phone. It's just like teaching any other manners to your kids, but the responsibility (yes, I used the 'R' word) lies with the parents.

Utah Parent says "Our teens are becoming phone freaks and are increasingly loosing conventional communication skills."

Apparently so are our teens' parents....for example, misspelling the word "losing". Ha ha - the irony is delicious.

But joking aside, I agree with the point - cell phones have no place in class.

The article says:
"Parent Tricia Ely, of Salt Lake City, has three children in high school, and they all have cell phones "so they can reach us and feel safe," she said.
Ely says she appreciates being able to text her kids during school if it's important, like reminding them of a dentist appointment."

So your high school kids can feel safe? I think your kids are overprotected if that's what they need to feel safe. What ever would they do without you during school?

She appreciates being able to text her kids during school for "important" things... like dental appointment reminders?! Give me a break, when was that ever important? You tell your teen before school (that morning, the day before, etc) and that's it. Or is it that you're so scatter brained that you only remember the day of the appointment, so then you have to create an emergency and disrupt your child's time at school with your "important" text message.

Please, Mrs Tricia Ely, I hope that after reading the Deseret News article you realize how silly your "important" text messages are and stop disturbing your children's education.

Cellphone is what we make of it. If we depend to much on the device it is because of our doing. I use to me a cellphone addict, no waking moment where I am not holding my cellphone (or place it near bed when sleeping). I moved on from the sorry state separated myself from my phone. Now, I find life is still the same and I enjoy the things around me more because I have all the senses free to experience them.
Cellphone has its place and time but not in school. Parents should have the same dicipline to know that it can interrupt in their childs schooling. Chores and reminders should be done before going to school not make it an excuse just to use the cellphone. It brings more harm than not.
No cellphone use while in school, it works on you when growing up why wouldn't work for your kids?

No texting, no silent ring, no phones in classes. They can use phones during lunch, that is it. We need to ban cell phones on the roads. Most people cant talk and drive at the same time.

A simple solution is to say "no cell phones in class." That's it. Don't waste time trying to coddle parents and especially students. There has to be some discipline and many of these students don't get it from their dimwitted, weak parents, many of whom let their kids the asylum. Whatever happened parents setting the rules? Now, it's the kids telling parents how things are going to be.