Back on May 9th a group of Findlay High School students approached the school board to ask for a change in the cell phone policy at school.
It seems that FHS as a zero tolerance for cell phones on campus and if found they are confiscated and returned at the end of the day. If the same person is found with one again then a parent or guardian has to come to school to pick it up.
Cell phones are like a part of the body of most teens these days. They are always talking, texting, or now taking pictures to share. Schools do have a reason to control the use of the phones during school hours for the same reason you can’t have a boom box. The phones not only can disrupt class but they can also be used to cheat.
When I heard about the issue I sided with the current policy.
In my younger days calculators were just being made affordable for most students. At first they were banned from school. It was considered cheating if you used one. But then they found out that calculators can help marginal students in math since most of the trouble is doing basic math functions. The policy changed and calculators were allowed but if you had a fancy one that could save formulas you had to bring them to the teacher before a test and he/she would reset the machine to wipe out any attempts to cheat on the test.
The problem with cell phones is, that unlike calculators, they have NO educational value.
The students suggested changing the policy to allow them to bring them as long as they are off and kept in their lockers during the day.
Sounds reasonable.
Then I read a follow up story in today’s Courier.
It seems that some students still bring the phones to school and some even use them during the day, fully knowing that it is against the rules.
But that wasn’t the kicker.
It seems that the administration is searching the phones they confiscate and punishing any rule violations contained on them like bad language in text messages and pictures showing underage drinking.
The kids are pissed. They feel that their privacy is being violated.
I think the kids had a good argument – if it wasn’t in school. Students have no privacy in school. When I was there in the mid 80’s we had a couple of school wide locker searches. Each class had to open their lockers and a staff member would look through them and punish any violation they found. One time they even brought a drug sniffing dog.
Cell phones are not school property but you really can’t blame the administration for searching them especially because they aren’t allowed in the first place.
As a teacher is quoted in the Courier article:
“Doesn’t there have to be some respect for the rules?”
Originally posted on the blog “Hancock County Politics Unfiltered”
