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Both my parents are administrators in high school, or have been in the recent past. I agree that there is no 'need' for cell phones in high schools, but if 'needs' were how society were organized, we wouldn't have Luxury SUVs, Canadian Idol, Wal Marts or Zac Efron. The fact is (and I think this is the point Michelle was trying to make) we have cell phones.
And if you think that cell phones are accepted in schools only because students want them, you are misinformed. Like I said above, it is the parents (and, now, young teachers) who want or tolerate cell phones in their kids' hands. So it doesn't make a lick of difference what those nostalgics think about it. It's change, man. And it's comin'.
Helicopter parents are indeed a perennial problem. As for young teachers, I doubt many of them wnat them; I presume most of them are trying to mitigate the undesireable side-effects of their presence. I don't agree with Old goat that it is important for teenagers to be normatively socially connected. I much prefer the teenager that marches to her own drum.
I agree with the rest of you about change coming and how schools will just have to adapt to new technology and live with it. But I ROTFL'ed at Snert's post, above. :D
I think it's up to the teenager to decide whether they want to "march to their own drum" and in what way they want to do that. If parents make that decision for them, then they're not marching to their own drum, they're marching to their parent's drum.
That said, as long as I can't afford a cell phone for myself, I'll be damned if I'm going to buy one for my kid. He's ten, and he says that some kid in his class ALREADY has one! He'd like one, but he never bugs. I can't imagine buying a cell phone for a kid, simply because I would worry that they would rack up a huge phone bill that I'd get stuck paying. For me, it's a money issue.
And that's why I don't have a cell phone of my own, either. The cell phone companies are rip-off artists. When they make cell phone charges work the way landline charges do (that is, free incoming calls from anywhere, and free outgoing calls locally, and only long distance calls are charged, and a reasonable monthly charge similar to the charge for landlines - then I'll get one for myself, and who knows, maybe even one for my son. Maybe.
Until then, it's not moralistic pronouncements about what kids "should" and "shouldn't" have that will keep both my son and I from getting one. It's money, pure and simple. Unless his dad wants to get him one and pay for it, in which case, I couldn't care less if he has a cell phone.
u gotta argue ur ass off wit em to get a deal my moms got 2 phones for 20 a month from rogers and u get stuff like 100 long distance minutes unlimited between the 2 phones n shit. But god dam was she on the phone for a long time lol.
I think the increasing incidence of brain cancer from cell phone use, should be a deterent from cell phone use in the first place.
I'm unfortunately not surprised to see that the "youth issues" forum, overwhelmingly, is dominated by parents and their viewpoints and their concerns (no disrespect to Michelle or anyone else), while the one youth (as far as I can tell) posting in this thread gets mocked.
As for cell phones in class, Rexdale_Punjabi has it right. If kids would rather talk on their phones than listen to what the teachers are saying, the teachers should probably take it as a cue that they are not saying anything interesting. It is all about control. Cell phones make it harder to control youth, so of course those who are tasked with controlling them are going to resent cell phones. I have the absolute right to carry a cell phone and not have it jammed; my kids, if I had any, would also have that right whether I agreed or not. And YOUR kids have that right too, whether you agree or not. Of course, not all youths can afford cell phones or have families that can afford cell phones. The real issue is control and freedom of information/communication. Schools are supposed to control their subjects; freedom of information and communication make it harder to control. Imagine a prison where every inmate had a cellphone. How do you think the guards would feel? How would the warden feel?
Good point, Boze, about the lack of respect for young voices in the Youth Issues forum. Thanks for mentioning it. I guess since we don't have a lot of young people on babble, most discussions will be dominated by older people (geez, I can't quite get over that I'm no longer not even "youngish" but just fast approaching middle age), but that doesn't mean that we should be mocking those very few young people who do participate.
That doesn't mean that everyone has to agree with younger babblers in this forum, but it does mean that we should be respectful.
Here's an idea: if kids want to talk or text on their phones rather than listen to what the teachers are saying, what are they doing sitting in class? If you don't like what's being taught, don't come to class. If the teacher is catatonically dull and shouldn't be in the profession, then you can make a formal complaint. But otherwise, get with it or get out.
That would actually be a better way of enforcing the no-cell-phone rule. Anyone caught has to leave the classroom. Students might have some difficulty passing a course if they're missing from class a lot.
You really think that's a constructive solution?
I think so. If I was at the end of my rope, as a teacher might be, or as this principal obviously was. What would be a better solution that actually reduces the problem and doesn't require teachers to become dancing monkeys or MTV veejays?
I think it's more complicated, discussion is good. I had no problem learning while ignoring the teacher most of the time. To me, it's the same as passing notes was. I think this principal and some ideas you've presented are short-sighted and reactionary.
what world do you live in? Formal Complaint? LOL yo that like going to a police station and filing a complaint about em, u get lauged out son. And kicced out? Do you realize most kids wouldn't care if they get kicced out lol u would proly get respect from ur peers for shit like that and you know what comes with that. A lot of kids don't pass a course they really don't give a shit if you fail you can take it agen you shouldn't but it aint a big deal if you do. Do you really think adults would take kids sayin teachers succ seriously? Do you think esp w/ the perception a lot of principals who white esp hold they would believe us? Get out of ur dream world and see how it really is. And also if you don't like what's being taught? Is the same as you know if the cops shoot ur friend and don't like it get out of the country it a copout which basically saying because it affects you and not me I don't care and it the mentality a lot of middle or close to middle aged white ppl hold towards youth and minority issues. If the class has false info for example and it your right to a good education should you not complain? You have a lethargic mentality that causes problems to not get solved and you think they don't exist.
RP wrote- You have a lethargic mentality that causes problems to not get solved and you think they don't exist.
Okay, I'llb ite, RP. What are the problems as you perceive them and what are the solutions to them?
All I was saying Rexdale is, if you want to hang out on your cell phone, there's no need to go to class to do it. You can do that anywhere. Why sit in your boring classroom to do it? If you're spending large amounts of the class texting your girlfriend on your cellphone that's really disrespectful not just to your teacher, but to the others in the class. Plenty of time outside of class to use your cellphone.
Rev_Please, there already was a ban in place in this school. What's the point of having that if you can't enforce it? People are asked to turn off their cell phones during movies, lectures, concerts, meetings, seminars, workshops, locker rooms, court, airplane flights, some workplaces, church services and certain areas of the hospital--lots of places. Most people comply because they respect the reasons for it. If they don't comply, sometimes they are reminded, sometimes they are removed. I don't see why kids can't learn the same rules.
Also, I don't think it's quite the same as writing notes. The technology is more absorbing. The communication more immediate. More of your attention is required to keep up with the exchange, and composing your reply. Although, I do recall the notes I would get from my best friend in high school were sometimes 3-4 full foolscap pages :)
Nobody "removes" an adult's cell phone, and students who skip class get suspended. The vast majority of high school students are in class only because they fear the consequences of not attending. The difference between a class and all those other settings is that nobody is there voluntarily, duh! Txting in class is not disrespectful to other students in the class in any way. It's "disrespectful" to the teacher only in the sense that it is a refusal to obey authority. When youths refuse to put up with disrespect, we say they are being disrespectful.
Wish granted. If you don't want to come to school, what could be better than the school asking you not to come to school?
That 6+ more hours in a day for texting! Eyes on the prize here!
jas that aint tru either and it aint disrespectful and you come to class to chill you dont get suspended btw lol no1 I know including me been suspended and we have wayyy more then what ur supposed to get suspended for.
Lol jas u proved my point 3-4 pages takes a lot longer then texting "Yo Ma wut u up 2 wanna cut after? :)" how long u think that would take?
edit- And ye I agree turn off ur goddam cellphone or put in on vibrate when every1 chillin or the teacher givin a lesson or w.e most ppl are smart enuff to do that but don't put some jamming shit in so no1 can use it at all. It aint hard to tell sum1 yo turn ur ring off that all. The teacher couldnt care less if ur texting in class esp if u pass the course cuz it shows you can do more then 1 thing at a time. Texting aint as concentration consuming as you think. Ill be writing a verse or 2 in class, texting, listening to music n ill still know what the teacher said When I go to class.
edit- Like what I meant to say was askin a kid to turn their ring off the odd time it rings in class you can say is the price of freedom it aint worht it to put a jammer in for shit like that
edit- Caissa about the problems too long of a list and I couldnt think of em all right now it one of those things you have to expierence and when you got ppl around you work up ideas together.
My mother used to say "youth was wasted on the young." Thank God I'm not turning into my mother.
Sure they can, jammers are still illegal in the instances you cited.
?? My solution wasn't to jam the signal but to ask kids to leave class if they are using their cellphone in class.
kids get up n leave anyway this wouldnt be a solution it actually wouldnt do anything lol.
edit- Do you really think kids would care if they get "sent" out of class if you wanna get out you can walk out, or take a hall pass n cut come bacc w/ 5min left. Many other ways actually, Im suprised there aint ppl saying well if the kids got the strap the problem with that is. If im chillin n a teacher tellin me something that a teacher. If he tryna hit me he tryna step to me like a man n ill hit him bacc like a man. I dont hit women tho fucc that shit. And if most guys seen a male teacher hit a girl theyd jump his ass lol
Closing for length, please start a part two if anyone wants to continue.