Jorge Werthein

Cell phones in schools: more hazardous than helpful

By:Lizz Schumer

Thursday September 8, 2011

It’s that time of year again. The leaves have started to turn, fall fashions are in the stores and parents have sent their children off to their first days of school this week.

As parents shop for those essential supplies (new folders, notebooks, pens and calculators), some will be adding electronics to the list for the first time. For many families, the addition of a cell phone to the back-to-school shopping list is a practical concern: children can use them to communicate with parents if they need a ride home from school or if their plans change during the day. Some may even supply students with cell phones for emergency use, but parents should be aware of school policies on personal electronics before putting a phone in their child’s backpack.

The Springville-Griffith Institute Central School District student handbook prohibits “use of any electronic devices (including cell phones, iPods®, etc.) during school hours (includes transportation to and from school). If brought to school, these must be turned off and secured in the student’s locker.”

Students are also not allowed to carry other personal electronic devices, such as laptop computers, without approval by the campus principal upon request of the student’s parent or guardian.

The West Valley School District handbook reads, “There are to be no headphones, CD players, MP3 players, tape recorders, radios, electric games or any personal music devices brought to any classes during regular hours. These items may be confiscated and kept in the principal’s office.”

In addition, “Students may not bring pagers or cell phones to class at any time. Pagers and cell phones may not be used at any time during the school day, and should be left in the student’s locker or vehicle with the power turned off.”

Although penalties vary between districts and campuses, the students risk having their phones confiscated if they use them in class, in some cases even risking detention or suspension for repeat offenses.

The reasons for the ban vary, but include distraction, risk of cyberbullying and cheating.

A recent Pew Research Center study found that 75 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds now own cell phones, up from 45 percent in 2004. They’ve become indispensable tools in teen communication, according to the report.

Nearly 90 percent of those teens use their phones for texting rather than calling. One in three teens sends more than 100 text messages each day, the report said, or 3,000 texts per month.

A study by Common Sense Media found that one-third of students with cell phones admit to have cheated at least once using them.

According to a 2006 poll conducted by the organization Fight Crime: Invest in Kids and reported by KidsHealth.org, nearly one-third of all teens and one out of every six preteens had been victimized by cyberbullying.

Nearly half of all victims of cyberbullying do not know the identities of the perpetrators, and 16 percent of victims never tell anyone, according to the Stop Bullying Now! website, administered by the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

Students can avoid all of these pitfalls by leaving their phones at home, and parents can help by refraining from texting or calling their children during the school day. Local school officials say that, like many other school policies, the cell phone usage ban requires cooperation between parents, students and teachers to work effectively.