Cell Phone Use Policy – After School Hours Only Please

Most teens today carry a cell phone, in fact, a recent survey by Teen Research Unlimited showed that half of U.S. teens own their own cell phone.

Many high schools are finding that students are often distracted in class by their cell phones and so now many schools have chosen to implement a cell phone use policy. As well as reducing distractions to students, the school cell phone use policy was also designed to prevent classroom interruptions and high-tech cheating.

Statistics show that the percentage of cell phone owners ranges from 37 percent for 12- to 15-year-olds to 67 percent for 18- and 19-year-olds. These statistics alone make it necessary for schools to have some type of cell phone policy.

While at some schools cell phones are banned from campus, most schools do not search for cell phones. However, if one rings or is seen, it may be confiscated. Surprisingly to many, parents are often the biggest opponents of banning students to carry cell phones. Many parents want their kids to carry cell phones with them, especially at after-school activities, so they can remain in touch if necessary and also to ensure their child could make a call in an emergency.

Some schools have cell phone use policies which allow students to have cell phones on campus, but not to use them during school hours. Under the most open cell phone policies, some schools allow each teacher to decide how to deal with cell phones in individual classrooms.

Almost all schools restrict cell phones during tests, as a result of one incident at the University of Maryland where twelve students were caught using the text messaging feature of their cell phones to cheat on a test. Similar incidents have occurred in Japan and even in a Texas high school. Schools have responded by setting policies that ban phones in testing environments.

Also see; cell phones and the law.

Author Notes:

Jack Adams contributes and publishes news editorial to http://www.cell-phones-n-plans.com. A cellular phone industry resource that features service plan comparisons, cellular phone reviews and articles.