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Originally Posted by ngdawg
Seems the high school here has a pretty cool way to deal with cell phones: They are completely banned in classes, and only can be used before school, after school and during lunch. The catch? The entire inside of the school, especially the lunchroom, is a no-signal area. 
Analog: I probably should have put the adverb in there, 'angrily'. I wasn't pleasant to that girl at all. I quite suspect she won't exactly be eligible for pension from Rite Aid. |
God yes, a full ban. High school students are notorious at rules lawyering, exploiting loopholes, pushing boundries, and interpreting privileges as if they are rights.
One interesting case at the high school illustrates the adolescent groupthink well. The high school decided to give students a mid-morning break between second and third periods, an extra ten minutes for them to us for a bathroom break and time to relax. The student council got permission to sell snacks during this time. The result? Tardies third period went up steadily the three years it was in place, complaints about not having enough time between classes skyrocketed, and students began bringing food and drinks to class third period claiming they had a right to do so. The logic seemed to be that because snacks were available during that time, the school was obligated to provide enough time to buy and consume them, and if this was not done, it justified tardies and eating in class. That some teachers allowed this, and it was up to the individual teacher to decide made it more difficult on the others who did not want this. Students saw this as unfair, as if a privilege being granted others made it a right due everyone.
Because of the general mess involved, morning break was eventually cancelled. Tardies, student complaints, and teacher complaints regarding student behavior following break all went down. I wrote it up for a journal, but never got around to polishing and publishing it.
Cell phone policy the year before the last was no phones in class period, and no phone use on campus during school hours period, only before first bell and after last bell. Because of student complaints and an amazing number of parent complaints, this was relaxed a bit my last year there, thinking it would relieve some of the complaints. The new policy was that cells must be turned off in class, but could be used at students' discretion in between classes or during lunch. As I predicted with Grace, a more lenient policy caused more problems than it solved. Students making calls or texting between classes were late because they were making a call, and tardies started going up. Students very quickly developed a habit of loitering outside a classroom while finishing a call, usually to someone else on campus, being late or finishing up an extra few seconds after the bell rang. Five extra seconds became ten, became thirty, and some students would be finishing a conversation as they entered class after the tardy bell had rung. There were students complaining on their end that because they were permitted to call between classes if they abided by the rules, they had all kinds of "rights" regarding their phones, and began making claims of "needing" their cell phones. In addition being allowed to have them in class meant one would inevitably go off during instruction, or there would be texting going on in class, or flippin' parents calling their children
in class. Which of course the students "had" to take.
Meanwhile at the middle school, the rule was no cell phones on campus period. Parents can call the office in an emergency, or leave a message with the secretary who could relay it with a runner if necessary. Students caught with cells had them confiscated and turned into the office. We'd go to joint meetings and just smile at the complaints of the high school teachers and be thankful our principal was a complete bastard about discipline.
We got Sissy a phone when she was 16 and started dating, in part because dating boys was quite a bit more dangerous for her than for most girls. The rules were very clear when it came to using it at school: If I hear a complaint from a teacher, the phone is gone, if it gets used in class, the phone is gone, if it rings in class, the phone is gone, if it gets confiscated and I have to go pick it up at the office, it's gone until you're 18 and doesn't get released except at the beginning of a date. The phone going away was also a potential penalty for any number of other violations of the rules.
Oh, and I'm with you on the meetings. Put the gadgets away, start the meeting on time, get the business done, and get out of there. Do whatever you're going to do before or afterwards.
Gilda