100 Phone Phools

We've done that in our district, in regards to cell phones.  Once you step on campus they are to be off, in back packs.  Students that have them out are escorted to the office to surrender their cell phone until the end of the day.  3rd time, the parent needs to pick it up.  After that, they are not allowed to have them at school at all.  This protocol has worked out very well.  The entire year, out of 6 classes, I've had less than a half dozen cell phone violations. It's also a violation if it goes off during class, since it is  supposed to be off.  No earbuds or headphones are allowed either. 

Bound to be a much improved learning environment..it's good to hear.

Well, it's a mixed bag here in Oregon. The kids secrete their phones in their backpacks or whatever--we can't search them, after all --and they spend the entire class period daydreaming about who they're going to send a text message to or what dumbass video theyre going to watch. The result is that 3/4 of them are late for the next class, or arrive just as the bell rings, effectively shortening the class time by several minutes.

But you know what? Ultimately, it doesn't matter. Four out of five students are morons and view school as a tedious waste of time. I have seventh graders who don't know their times tables or basic grammar and spelling. I asked an eighth grade class what states/geographical features border Oregon. The only ones they knew were Washington and the Pacific Ocean--and many of them didn't even know that.

We need to save the brains of the few kids who have them and yank them out of the public school pit as soon as possible. It happens to some extent in high school with AP classes, etc., but that's much too late. It's a crime and a waste of human resources to force the bright kids to sit there, bored, while we teach the rest of the gang to spell "cat."

As some of you are teachers, I'd be interested to hear your perspectives on this.