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Students Chime In On Stricter Cell Phone Rules At School

News Channel 8 photo by WALLY PATANOW

A new policy passed by the Hillsborough County School Board could mean more confiscated cell phones from students. According to the new policy, any cell phone or electronic device in plain view can be taken.

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By MARILYN BROWN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 16, 2008

TAMPA - TAMPA Chris Steiglen was in science class when his cell phone went off. He quickly answered, but it was too late. His teacher confiscated the phone and his parents had to come to collect it.

It was a wrong number, "some guy," said Chris, a student at Farnell Middle School.

Expect more crackdowns when the new year opens Aug. 18 for Hillsborough County schools and new restrictions on cell phone use spread countywide. The School Board this week decided that students must keep cell phones and other electronic devices out of sight or risk having them seized.

Steiglen's older brother, Michael, a student at Alonso High School, said there's no danger he'll be busted.

"I'm there to learn, and no cell phone is going to get in the way of that," Michael said with a wry grin as his mother, Maria, listened outside WestShore Plaza mall Wednesday.

Maria Steiglen said she agreed with the changes in policy, but questioned a rule that was already in place requiring phones be turned off. Couldn't they remain on vibrate, for family emergencies?

"I can see that it can be disruptive, but in the cases of emergency, you need to reach your child," Steiglen said. "I really don't see the harm."

The new rule will be in effect from the time the first bell rings to the last bell of the day.

Each school will determine consequences, as well as a process for returning the phones, said Lewis Brinson, the district's assistant superintendent for administration.

Students and their parents will receive notifications of the procedure, including a full page in the student handbook reminding them, "We See It, We Take It!" Brinson said.

The phones may be stored in lockers, pockets or purses, but teachers or administrators can still take them if they see them there, Brinson said.

School board members said they expect protests and vowed to stand firm.

"We're going to have to back the principal," said veteran board member Candy Olson. "This is a rule that applies to every student in every school, every day. That's it."

Parents with emergency messages will have to call the school as they did before cell phones caught on, Brinson said.

"That's worked just fine," Olson said.

Teachers' cell phones aren't subject to the new restrictions, board members said, adding that they don't expect them to use the phones during class.

"Teachers are adults and different rules apply," board Chairwoman Jennifer Faliero said. "They may be conducting business on cell phones. They have the right to do that on break or at lunch."

Blake High School Principal Jacqueline Haynes said administrators will cut students little slack.

"We should not be able to see your cell phone so if we see it, it's ours," she said. Phones have been a classroom disruption, she said. Students would text message friends, she said.

Hillsborough's policy has been that phones must be turned off during school. Students openly carry and use them, however, and enforcement varies by school.

As phone use increases and trickles down to elementary grades, teachers say they can't police the silent text messaging or the videos that end up on the Internet.

Cell phone use in schools became a safety issue after the Sept. 11 attacks, and a state law was passed allowing students to have phones at school. This year, state law also invalidated test scores of students with cell phones on them during the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.

Alexis Hillary, a ninth-grader at Jefferson High, understands the logic behind the confiscation policy but thinks it goes too far.

"I guess it's a good thing they're not allowing kids to use their cell phones in class because they might try to send text messages on the FCAT or to give answers to each other," she said.

"I don't really like it because what if it falls out of your pocket and they take it? There's really no reason to take it if you weren't using it."

Kanara Lee, a ninth-grader at Blake, said: "My opinion on it is I don't think it's a really good policy. Some kids have to use it for emergencies and have to talk on it."

News Channel 8 reporter Yolanda Fernandez contributed to this report. Reporter Marilyn Brown can be reached at (813) 259-8069 or mbrown@tampatrib.com.

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