Ban Cell Phones
Do Students Need Phones in Schools?
By Daniel Muniz

In today’s modern age, it is almost a necessity to have a mobile phone. And fortunately for everybody, fierce competition has dramatically lowered prices for cell phones (the lower end models are usually given away for free) so that practically anyone can afford the usage plans of wireless companies.

In addition, the technology behind the phones has greatly improved. In fact, some people have disconnected their home phones and opted to solely use wireless plans.

But the modern age of cell phones has also provoked the question about children using such phones and taking them to their schools.

Many school districts simply ban the phones outright while others have policies that are rarely enforced. And other districts, like with many things, simply tolerate their usage until something bad happens.

The stricter environments have always maintained that the philosophy behind many of their policies have been to eliminate distractions from the classroom in particular and to remove disruptions altogether in general. Consequently, many schools consider their student’s cell phones as a nuisance and treat them as such.

But these actions are not without precedent. Years, ago, when pagers became dirt cheap for just anybody to afford, they were targeted by school officials, especially when they became associated with gang and drug activity. And at that time, the beepers had limited value because of the technology involved.

Today, cell phones are totally different.

As adults already know, they are absolutely essential in the business environment as well as in personal life such as for convenience and for personal safety. And so persuasive are they that the coin-operated public telephone is on its way to extinction. Incidentally, the few people who do not have cell phones do so out of choice.

As a result, it is simply natural for children to have the mobile phones (or anything else that their parents already have like access to the Internet, etc.).

Consequently, many parents are confused and even angered by school district policies that restrict their children from even taking them to school. And many feel that at least some sort of compromise ought to be reached, especially when personal safety and parental communication is involved.

On the surface, the dilemma almost seems to have an easy answer.

A school may not necessarily want the mobile phones on campus but there ought to be room for finding the middle ground. The parents insist that their children will turn them off while they are school and only use them only in an absolute emergency or at times that do not disrupt a learning environment.

Although too many parents sincerely believe that their children are angels in the classroom, most school officials are skeptical because they know otherwise.

The foremost objection by school authorities is the distraction that the phones can cause. And kids love disruption and commotion and most of them see that as entertainment especially when they are in the presence of their peers. Simply telling a student to either turn off his or her cell phone or to not use it during classroom instruction is pure fantasy especially if there are no consequences involved other than confiscation.

Unfortunately, too many parents simply view their children as adults who wear smaller clothes. They assign them the same attributes that they have in regards to maturity and responsibility. Adults already know how to function in the workplace and to accept rules. Kids don’t and schools know that.

But the next objection, now that many cell phones utilize more sophisticated technology, is the opportunity for kids to use them for nefarious activity.

Academically, students are already using them to cheat on tests. And the more sophisticated that the mobile phones are, the more adept kids will become in thwarting the rules.

Some districts are already dealing with the problems of inappropriate pictures and even videos being taken in the showers and in locker rooms. And parents are already holding schools responsible for the pain and suffering that such activity has inflicted on their children. Naturally, that is by means of a lawsuit.

Regrettably, there are some kids who enjoy a tremendous thrill at the opportunity to humiliate and exploit their fellow classmates that even severe punishment such as suspension or expulsion has little value in deterrence. And school officials know that too, especially since once an illicit photograph makes its way on to the Internet, there is absolutely no way to undue the damage.

However, many parents are still adamant about their kids having cell phones on campus. They dismiss the valid arguments of school districts and simply insist that their children should have them anyways. Some even go as far to suggest that such restrictions are violations of their civil rights.

In essence, parents need to grow up.

Even though they may insist that their own offspring will behave appropriately, kids act entirely different when they are with their peers or when they are in a large social environment such as a school campus. And many children simply do not follow the rules because they do not have the maturity to do what is truly expected of them.

It is unfortunate that the bad apples spoil it for everyone because it is in my own personal opinion that students can personally benefit by having cell phones with them at all times. And there are always plenty of kids who respect authority and who are responsible enough to handle any situation and circumstance but a school has to be a place where school officials can maintain and enforce discipline in order to provide the best learning environment possible.

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