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February 24, 2005
To cell or not to cell?School boards and superintendents continue to wrestle with the issue of cell phones carried by students during the school day. Since the events of 9/11, many schools have relaxed their policies to allow students to have them, but require the phones to be turned off during the day. Parents like the idea of being able to get in touch with their children if an emergency arises. But today's cell phone technology offers text messaging and picture taking features that could lead to cheating and privacy invasion. In an article published yesterday in Education World, William Scharffe, director of bylaw and policy services for the Michigan Association of School Boards, noted that the cell phone issue now "extends down to the elementary grades. There are first and second graders with cell phones," which was unheard of a few years ago.
In the same article, NSBA attorney Naomi Gittins noted, "Many states are repealing the laws [regulating cell phones in schools] and are throwing the issue back at the local districts." In response to Connecticut's relaxing of state law, the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education advises school districts to be flexible in its cell phone policies but recommends that camera phones be banned from schools.
For a state-by-state recap of statutes, check out the 2004 study, "Pagers and Cellular Phones on School Property," published by the Education Commission of the States. To learn more about how states and school districts are dealing with this issue, read this Teacher Magazine article and this Education Week article. How are you dealing with cell phone policies? Let BoardBuzz readers know!
Posted February 24, 2005 12:00 AM
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