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Students Call For Compromise On Cell Phones
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Published: March 28, 2008
Updated: 03/28/2008 12:56 am
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TAMPA - Don't even think about asking students to shut off their cell phones in school.
In fact, how about making it legal for youngsters to use them during lunch and between classes?
That appeared to be the bottom line for more than 150 high school student leaders from the district gathered at Durant High School on Thursday for a bimonthly student government meeting.
Cell phones made their agenda after school board members agreed this month that cell phone policy changes are in order. Students are taking pictures of school fights and posting them on MySpace and using phones to cheat, board members said.
It was board member Doretha Edgecomb who suggested the student government group be asked for input. She and School Board Chairwoman Jennifer Faliero attended the students' meeting.
When Edgecomb said she and Faliero wanted to hear about "the big C word," however, students were stumped. Edgecomb told them C is for cell phone, as many stayed busy texting on their phones during the 2 1/2-hour meeting.
Other issues were scheduled but it was cell phones that pushed their buttons.
When administrators confiscate phones, "they should at least call your parents to let them know in case they need to contact you," Bloomingdale High student Ariel Rodriguez said. When phones are kept by administrators for days, "you miss all kinds of important calls."
Students Point To Teachers
The teachers, students said, are just as bad when it comes to texting, including texting other teachers, and taking phone calls in class.
"How can you tell others what to do when you're doing the same thing?" said Aaron Sykes, a sophomore at Plant City High School.
Cell phones mostly were banned from schools before security issues after the Sept. 11 attacks changed the public's view of their value.
Hillsborough County has allowed the phones in school since 2002-03 as long as they were turned off during school hours. In 2004, state law allowed students to have cell phones on campus, leaving details to the districts.
Hillsborough kept its policy: Once the bells ring, students must turn off their phones and leave them off until the school day ends. They are not even supposed to be on silent or vibrate mode.
That isn't even close to what is happening, students said.
Some schools already allow students to use their phones at lunch and between classes, they said. Even if they don't, students do it anyway, hiding phones in their laps or purses.
"Of my seven teachers, there are two - you will get in trouble," said Kasey Lambert, a senior at Newsome High. "The other five are, 'Just don't do it while I'm teaching.'"
Katie Greene, a Durant junior, said she chose a phone that folds out flat and includes a keyboard identical to her computer so she can text under her desk without looking.
"How do you get to text people when they're in class?" Faliero asked students meeting in a group to come up with proposals.
"A lot of teachers don't care," Greene told her. "Teachers have, like, given up on it."
"Are students at other schools texting you back?" Faliero asked, and when the answer was, "Yes," she responded, "Oh, jeez."
Faliero, who was texting on her BlackBerry earlier in the meeting, said she knows students won't stop. "It's almost like they're addicted to it."
Her daughter texts her from school during lunch to coordinate her schedule, she said. And "I text my daughter," Faliero admitted.
"How do I as a policymaker convince five other public officials it's not a good idea to ban cell phones?" Faliero said. "I don't know a student who doesn't have a cell phone."
Students mostly suggested allowing use during lunch and between classes, saying that might limit covert use during class.
"One thing that bothers us is we can't even use them at lunch," said Haley Quinzi, a Durant junior. "It's our time; it's our friends."
But, she pointed out, "What they would be worried about is us texting people in class."
A Rule Is A Rule
The phones are a disturbance, said Jenna Hamblin, a Chamberlain High senior.
"I'm not going to lie: I text," Hamblin said. At the same time, she said, "I think it's a rule and a rule shouldn't be broken." Students could do without their cell phones if they had to, she said. "If it's a true emergency you can go up to the office. Your parents can call the office."
So, said Jarrod Barefoot, a Newsome High student, "you have to make a new rule."
Barefoot suggested requiring students to place their cell phones in "a little basket or tray on their desks" where they could be seen. If a student even reached for it, a teacher could confiscate it."
"It's such a big problem," Barefoot said. Parents would be really upset if students couldn't use their cell phones, he said: "That's a tough issue to tackle."
Student suggestions will be forwarded to the seven-member school board, which is considering policy changes for the 2008-09 school year.
In the end, Edgecomb asked Faliero, "Is the battle worth fighting?"
Faliero responded: "That's what we have to ask the teachers now."
Reporter Marilyn Brown can be reached at (813) 259-8069 or mbrown@tampatrib.com.
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