Valdosta BOE may ban cell phones at school
Valdosta BOE may ban cell phones at school
- Posted on March 9, 2010
VALDOSTA — Cell phones on campus may soon become a thing of the past.
At Monday’s Valdosta Board of Education regular meeting, the board approved a measure allowing Superintendent Dr. Bill Cason to rewrite the policy concerning cell phones and electronic instruments on school campuses, Jennifer Steedley, director of public relations for the Valdosta City School System said Tuesday.
The board discussed banning cell phones entirely from campus and various disciplinary procedures that could be implemented once the policy is rewritten and approved by the board, she said.
One measure discussed would require a parent or guardian to come to school the first time a student is caught with a cell phone and pick up the phone. If the offense happened again, the phone would be kept by the school until the end of the year, Steedley said.
In other news:
• Policies concerning public participation and meeting locations were approved by the board. The new public participation policy will not require a person wanting to speak to the board to sign up five days before the meeting is held. They will now be able to sign up at the meeting to speak.
• To give more room to those wanting to attend meetings, board meeting work sessions will now rotate between schools from September to May. The work sessions conducted in June, July and August will be held at the central office, Steedley said. The rotation schedule will be determined at the regular board meeting each July and the rotation will not start until the meetings are mapped out in July.
• Students participating in the SMILE program will be allowed to wear blue cords at the Valdosta High School graduation in May. The cords represent their participation in the program and their dedication to community service.
• Annalise Wojcik, a W.G. Nunn Elementary School fifth grader, was honored as the system-wide spelling bee winner and for placing second in the district competition. She will move on to the state competition that will be held on Friday.
• Valdosta High School state wrestling champion Jovan Scott was honored during the meeting for placing first in the 140-pound Class AAAAA classification.
• Two members of the Valdosta Middle School Math Counts team, Zachary Goddard and Ty Haynes, will participate in the upcoming state competition.
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This seems like an unfair rule to me. No school should be able to ban cell phones. I think not bringing cell phones to class or to have it on during school hours is ok but baning them just isn't fair. Kids need there phones in school because after school if they want to go to a friends house or something like that they need to make a call to let there parents know. It wouldn't be fair to get in trouble by the school because you have your phone. This article didn't give me any good reason to ban cell phones.
i think that schools should let us have cell phones on during lunch but like while there teachin and stuff we should turn our cell phones off
I think that you should be able to have your phone out as long as your talking about stuff that's right and that is not wrong
I think that you should be-able to take your phones out in the hall-way, or in the kunch room& before school starts,but that probably wont be happening any time sooner!
I believe that this is a bad idea. Students need their cell phones for a lot of important reasons. Some students have extra-curricular activities that they participate in afterschool such as: sports, band, and other clubs. Students will need some way to get in contact with their parents they have concluded their activity. Some students have other responsibilities that they take care of when they leave school such as: jobs, church activities, watching brothers or sisters, and much more. If a student isn't permitted to bring their cell phone to school and an emergency occurs, what type of communication will they have with their parents or guardians. I understand that instructional time is important, but so are our cell phones. They are our way of communication. If we didn't have policies and procedures that prohibited us from socializing with our peers there would be no need for students trying to sneak and text during class. Our school board needs to take all of these things into consideration. Cell phones are a new part of our generation and technology is advancing. They are just as important to students as they are to teachers and administrators.
Banning cell phones in my opinion is a bad idea. The BOE is just opening a can of worms that shouldn't have to be opened. Students who cheat using their cell phones won't get anywhere in life and the school shouldn't have to worry about that. Let them make the mistake. Many students stay after school for 5th block and need to contact parents to let them know ahead of time that they are staying. Some teachers don't allow students to use their phones during class and after, it's too late. I didn't see anything wrong with the way this situation was handled before.
I think its a bad idea. Ita really stupid for them to band them. Some people have to stay after school they ain't gone let everybody use the phone to call for a ride home. It's not fair that teachers still get too have theirs if you gone band them take them from the teachers too.
They shouldn't ban cell phones. Alot of students participate in after school activities and will need their phone. This rule is just nonsense. I bet every teacher and staff member would have their phones on campus.
I think this is a good idea. Because it is a major distraction. That's exactly why students are failing now because they don't want to do there work. All they would rather do is text, sleep, and eat. But I'm so glad that they banned phones. Because they are slowing others down that want to learn and graduate. I hope they get to understand this. I know some disagree with me right now but they will soon "get the picture."
I think banning cell phones was very stupid idea. They know that students are not going to follow this new rule so why even bother. It's just going to make the school system worse and stop instruction time. Reason for that is because alot of students will not give up their cell phone if the person asks for it. Therefore it just causes more problems in the school. This was a bad idea because what if a student has to get in touch with their parents??? Students need their phones for emergencies or something important. This is just wrong!