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.

I text all the time. I just finished with my college degree and I would text all the time during class. I would simply put my phone on vibrate and text non-blatantly.. the teachers never knew. And I managed to get pretty much straight A's throughout my educational experience. Can't really recall what I learned, put I got that degree nevertheless and that's all that matters...LOL!! Just kidding, I remember everything I learned- the most important thing being to keep that cell phone on vibrate!

We all survived school without phones... what's the problem.

When I was in school there was a perfectly functioning system where parents could call into the school and a message could be relayed to the student. I am not aware of a mass dentist appt. truancy rate prior to the cell phone age. I agree that the problem is primarily with parents who set a bad example with their own bad (and often unsafe) cell phone manners and then wonder why their kids do the same. The need for additional legislation does seems a bit redundant, however, since schools already have the individual authority and most have already enacted rules to limit or remove cell phone use in class.

Who sets the guidelines for school - the parents who don't bother with their kids at home? I am a single parent and when my children were in school not too long ago - we didn't need cell phones to communicate and the school had adequate availability of telecommunications when needed. Cell phones don't belong in the classroom anymore than IPODS etc. They are there to listen and learn and for the parents that think they need it they need to get a life and communicate with their children at home. Come on Brd of Ed strutt your stuff and stand up against parents demanding their johhny is the only child in the class room to have rights. NO CELL IN CLASS AND NO CELL WHILE DRIVING which goes for selfish adults as well

No student should be allowed to have a cell phone once they enter a school building. It's that simple!

During school they are a distraction, they are a danger (kids walking numb into other kids, tripping, and other stupid stuff...), to name just a few of the inconveniences.

Outside of school that is the parents place to determine otherwise, but in school that is the school policy that determines this issue, and it should be adamantly against cell phone possession once a student enters any school place building.

Cell phones are not going to go away. I am a school teacher and I teach my students to be responsible. Turn the ringer off. If an important phone call is to be expected let me know before class and I will allow that student to quietly step out in the hall for a moment. We need to embrace technology. Parents and teachers need to simply educate our youth on proper use. Cell phones are wonderful. I agree it has changed our society. But so did fast food, the microwave, ovens, indoor air conditioning. Technoology will always change our society embrace it.

I can only wait when some texters go to college. Unable to spell and talk.
Texting language is probably one of things I find very annoying. When people send it to me in an email, or post it on the internet. I think "great, what made your time so valuable that you had to leave out the vowels so everybody has to spend twice as much time to decipher your cryptic message."

Try taking away their cell phone from a teenager and see what kind of reaction you get. Tell them it's only for a week. They will go ballistic. What does that tell you? I see it as an unhealthy attachment that concerns me about what is going on in their lives. Especially in the formation of relationships and healthy socialization. I think there are a lot of unanswered questions.

My oldest is 13 - he doesn't have a cell now and he's not going to get one during his high school years either. WHEN he gets a job, IF he wants to pay for it himself, he's STILL not going to be allowed to take it to school, maybe once in a while if there's a critical need on a given day. And I better not hear that he's misused it, or that's not going to happen either.

The good old days are gone! I think it was 96 or 97 when I confiscated the first cell phone in my class. It was one of the funniest things I have ever done. I sat there, in front of the kids and erased ALL of the memory. The kids were aghast! I felt fulfilled. The offender was suitably punished. I only confiscated 1 more phone that year. I continued this practice each year for the next few years. It was amazing how quickly the word got out that phones needed to be off in my class. Around '03-'04 a parent complained about my practice. An administrator ORDERED me to cease and desist with my practice. They (admin) claimed I had no right to erase the memory. Hmmmmmm... How many phones do I confiscate now? 2 - 3 a week, all year long. There is no concsequence so the kids don't care. Does anyone know if those big magnets fry simm cards?

There is a way to stop the cell phone use in the building. From what I have read, the technology already is advailable. It seems we have devices that will make cell phones just sound static if used in a building with said device. Let the kids bring and try to use their cells, and all the get is static. Seems worth looking into. THe article about this device was in the DN several months ago by now maybe.

My son is a student at West High. A couple of days ago he came home and stated that his teacher received and answered 9 phone calls during their one and a half hour class. My 14 year old son knows not to take a call during class, I think his teacher should be able to figure it out.

I appreciate that teachers are trying to be creative in using technology. however, this puts a lot of social pressure on the kids who don't have cell phones. School should be a place where as little material objects as possible the better.

In the junior high school (mostly middle class area) where I teach, I conducted a visual survey of how many of my students were carrying cell phones. Eighty-two percent of my students had their cell phones on them. The school policy says that they must be in their lockers during the day. They aren't going to leave them there. It's naive to think that. They could get stolen. An informal survey indicated that while some students texted their friends during the day, most of the students received more texts from their moms than friends while at school.

This is the policy at the Jr High in Texas where my niece attends. It sounds good to me.

Cell phones, Ipods, MP3 players, video games, cameras, etc. are prohibited and will be confiscated (taken away) immediately by staff members if cell phones are seen. The phone will only be returned to a parent/guardian.
First Offense: Written warning to student with parent and administrator’s signature. Documentation will remain in the students file until the end of the school year.
Second Offense: $15 fee for the cell phone to be returned to a parent/guardian along with proper
documentation for student’s file.
Third Offense: $25 fee for the cell phone to be returned to a parent/guardian along with proper
documentation for student’s file.
Fourth Offense: Cell phone will be kept until the end of the school year and a $25 fee will be
assessed in order for the phone to be returned to a parent/guardian.

It's not just a problem at school. The teens bring them to church too and text in Sunday School and YM/YW. Some even walk out of the class to take a phone call.

How did I possibly survive, let alone thrive in High School PCF (pre-cell-phone)? I seem to have remembered my appointments, tests, developed friendships etc. My children (Junior High +) have cell phones. I provide cellphones for them as a matter of personal safety. However, if schools want to restrict cellphone use inside the public schools, I'm all for it.

There is a line between cell phones being an enabler of communication and being a crutch to good communication skills. Teenagers are texting things they would never conceive of verbalizing outloud.

If parents are texting their children during school hours, they are part of the problem.

cell phones are not needed in class nor should they be tolerated. texting reminders or such like takes the responsibility away from the students and lets thems "forget" things they do not want to do.

I support No Cell phones in School. My Daughter lives in a split custody situation. Her Mother is lacking in parent skills and insistant that our daughter keep her cell phone on her at all times so that she can be reached for baby sitting duties for her two year old little brother, etc. Unfortunately, my daughter has developed carpal tunnel syndrome from texting so much (17,000) in one month. Every time she has gotten herself into trouble it has been the result of her cell phone, texting boys who are 4 and 5 years older than her, staying up late at night, etc. I have talked to her Mother and catch the "I have custody speech". I think Cell phones have made our kids lazy and not able to pay attention. It's not just my daughter. Try going to McDonalds and see how many times it takes a teenager to get your order right. They are too distracted by this technology and I for one would vote to have them banned from school.

Parents who buy their kids individual cell phones and support them bringing them to school are doing their children a big disservice.
A few things they are preventing their children from learning-
communication skills, fiscal responsibility, focus, patience, honesty, honoring authority, encouraging anonymity, the ability to confront issues.
The reliance of our youth on technology is a very bad thing and will cause this generation a lot of trouble.
Relatedly, our reliance on communication technology is slightly distressing. It seems as though we are gearing up for another tower of Babel. Communication is overcoming the language barrier and what will happen when the communication capabilities disappear.
Really, parents, don't buy your kids a cell phone

As has been previously mentioned, students learn their cell phone habits from watching their parents. Therefore, all hope is lost when it comes to the schools trying to get this particular genie back in the bottle. Every single day, I almost die because of some selfish person driving while on their cell phone. And, when I am in a store, I have to wait longer to check out because of some selfish person in line ahead of me on their cell phone. Furthermore, over the past few months, I have had to listen to three cell phone ring tones go off during Sacrament Meeting. Finally, last Friday, I was at a viewing (funeral) and a cell phone went off!!! How do we expect our students to be responsible if their parents are modeling selfish and inappropriate behaviors?

There is a teacher at my school who has a good policy on cell phones. This is that you can have your cell phone in class unless he can tell that you have it. If you ar unable to keep it anonymous, then you will probably never see it again. He has a bucket which contains over 100 cell phones that he has accumulated throughout the years.

He also told us of a substitute teacher who is agood friend of his who is even less tolerant. He just has a hammer that he carries around with him in case he finds a phone. If he does, he takes it up front, puts the phone on a nice hard surface, and applies the hammer at high speed. In this case, you are even less likely to ever see your phone again.

It is against the privacy of these children to publish their pictures so perverts can lust. The school's are obligated to protect children from all predators.

RE: Steve 3:03 p.m.

I like the policy of the teachers on confiscating and/or smashing cell phones. Would like to see more of that, but alas, mommy and daddy, who are as dumb and empty-headed as their can-do-no-wrong little darlings, will be all over the school district with lawsuits and whatever other threats.

To Steve. It would appear that you are extremely gullible to believe that a teacher can take away and KEEP a cell phone or more Break it. Although, I am sure many teachers would love to have this kind of power and to be honest, I would probably support them. However, most parents would not, since cell phones these days cost in the hundread's of dollars and to get a new one will often increase the length of the contracts....Therefore, the teacher who has told you this is just wishful thinking but it isn't true. But just for you steve, I have some ocean front property in Magna that I would love to sell you.

What's the problem? I agree with High School Teacher 10:20. Let the kids use the phones. In fact, as a high school teacher myself...I think that it would be a powerful educational tool.

When they are misused, have some standard consequences. For example, in my district, they simply take the phone away if they use it when they shouldn't, and charge $10 to get it back, or wait until the end of the school year to get it back. After the first week of paying $10 fines few of the kids used them inappropriately anymore. The money went to a special fund for something fun.

I think teachers should make good use of this technology, not banish it. When the problems do arise...deal with them. Educate the students about what is appropriate and what is not; that's our job as teachers and parents isn't it? What a marvelous real-world learning experience.

This is why I don't send to children to public schools in Utah. My children have attended a private Catholic school and the policy is simply no cell phones on, period. Why can't the glorious Utah school system act like adults, make a rule, and enforce it. The adminsitration of our pppublic school system and all of these ridiculous boards are wasting taxpayers money and hurting the kids.

Cell Phones in Schools. I don't own My own cell phone but I dont think cellphones should be aloud
in elementry schools or junior highs but in high schools I think students should be responsable enough to care about there studies and honest enough to not cheat. It is there life cheating won't get them any where. I am not saying they should be aloud in class but at least at schools.
There should still be rules but don't completely banned them.

I recently put my house on the market and it was wonderful to have a cellphone. My realtor and any contractor I hired, were all able to get in contact with me. My cellphone was also wonderful when I had cancer and doctors offices would try to get in contact with me. On the other hand, I teach at a university and cellphones are a huge problem. You can't keep them out of the classroom, however, in my class any student getting caught with ear buds in, claiming to listen to music on their cellphone, or getting caught texting, has an instant F on his quiz or exam. It's in my syllabus and it works great!

Good Job. Perhaps this will wake up the parents and students. Put it in the syllabus. Getting caught results in an F.