Texting, cell phones a growing problem for high school staff

This from the Springfield Sun:

Cell phones are one of the most convenient modern devices in the world today, but for many schools, they are also a growing problem.

Washington County High School Principal Leon Smith said his school has had some recent incidents, and many of them have stemmed from the use of cell phones and text messaging.

“We’ve had some situations where we’ve had a few more fights than normal,” Smith said Monday. “It seems most of them stem from some type of text message sent over the weekend or the night before, and many times to multiple recipients, and they get blown out of proportion.”

Smith said messages are sometimes confrontational, and when the students arrive at school, that is the first opportunity they have to settle the problem, and it becomes a school problem...

... “It’s not just our school, but across the state and the nation, cell phones are becoming more of a problem when they are used to send rumors, hateful messages, or even details about where and when other students may get into a fight,” Smith said. “I’m afraid parents don’t realize the seriousness of cell phones in a school building. The cell phone is meant for good, but some teens have turned it into something that could be dangerous.”

It’s not just text messages, but also photos that are a growing concern for school staff members when it comes to cell phones. A new trend known as “sexting” involves a sexually explicit photo being sent via cell phone, and Smith said he sees more explicit messages each day as phones are confiscated.

“I’m blown away with the types of messages some of these kids are sending. We don’t take phones to read text messages, but some are willing to review messages with us, and the language and context some of the things are being said in these messages is so inappropriate. Parents really need to be aware what their teens are sending and receiving on their phones.” ...

It's a cell, cell world: UK ditches dorm land lines

This from H-L:

For University of Kentucky students, the land line is dead.

Cell phone-toting students have so little use for old-fashioned phone lines that UK has disconnected its dorm rooms, saving the school $840,000.

Although any of UK's 5,600 dorm residents can request a phone line, only seven had done so a day after the academic year began last Wednesday.

"I spend a lot of time on my cell phone," said Kimberly Lawless, 18, a freshman who graduated from Lexington's Paul Dunbar High School and lives in a UK dorm. "At my house I normally don't use the land line phone. I use my cell phone. I guess you have your cell phone everywhere."

Her attitude is the norm, according to a UK survey that shows 98.2 percent of students in dorms own and prefer to use cell phones over land lines.

"I grew up on the cell phone," said Tyler Fleck, 22, a senior from Louisville who majors in political science. "This generation, we've moved to the cell phone. Even my parents have cell phones."

Apparently, the cost of using a cell phone is no deterrent in a time of high college costs.

Lawless said her monthly cell phone bill is $50. "My parents pay the bill," she added...

School takes cell phones after nude photos circulate

This from Teacher Magazine:

SANTA FE, Texas (AP) — School district police have been confiscating dozens of cell phones from students after nude pictures of two junior high girls began circulating, the district superintendent said.

"Those students forwarded the images and the circle opened up and got wider and wider," Superintendent Jon Whittemore said Tuesday.

He said that it all started when two Santa Fe Junior High School students took nude photos of themselves and sent them to their boyfriends. The boyfriends forwarded the photos to others, who in turn forwarded them again, he said...

Appeals court upholds NYC school cell phone ban

This from Newsday:

NEW YORK - A ban on cell phones in the nation's largest school system was upheld Tuesday by a state appeals court.

The Department of Education passed rules in September 2005 barring students from having their phones in public schools.

School officials, as well as Mayor Michael Bloomberg, have called the phones a distraction and say they could be used for nefarious purposes, including cheating.

Parents insist they need to stay in touch with their children in case of emergencies like Sept. 11. They call the ban irrational and unsafe and say it intrudes on their right to determine what is best for their children.

City lawyers argued that education officials had the right to make policy decisions _ "the kind government officials make all the time" _ about devices students may have at school.

The state Supreme Court's Appellate Division agreed. It said that nothing about the ban interferes with any of the rights claimed by the parents, nor does it prevent students and their parents from communicating before and after school...

Oldham schools' cell phone rule revised

Students' parents can get them back

The Oldham County school district will no longer keep confiscated student cell phones after a unanimous vote last night by the school board.

Despite the change, board Chairman Joyce Fletcher said, "I still hold firm to the fact that cell phones should not be used in class."

The policy change also adds iPods and MP3 players to items that cannot be used on school property.

Since 1991, Oldham County schools have had a policy dictating that a student caught using a cell phone would have it taken away.

To get the phone back, a parent has to pick it up and sign a form acknowledging that if the student is caught using it at school again, it will be forfeited to the board.

The board donated confiscated cell phones to shelters for battered women, who can use them to dial 911 in emergencies. Last year alone, the district donated 42 cell phones.

But in May, parent Joni Burnett complained to the board after her daughter's cell phone was confiscated when she was caught sending a text message to her cousin during Spanish class after having been warned.

"I'm glad they have rethought it," Burnett said. "I do support rules and I think they need to be followed. But I thought this was a little a harsh."

Now, students will be able to get their phone back if their parents pick it up at the Central Office between the last day of school and June 30. Any phone that's not picked up by a parent will be donated to a local charity...

This from the Courier-Journal.

Classroom Cell Phone Woes - Italian-style

Italy has banned schoolchildren from using mobile phones in class in an attempt to stop ringtones disrupting lessons and prevent pupils messing about with video cameras.

The ban follows a series of incidents that have shocked Italians. In November, a video showing a disabled pupil being bullied by classmates, filmed on a mobile phone, caused outcry after it was posted on the Internet. In another, pupils filmed each other sexually harassing a female teacher.

The story from Reuters.

Palm Beach Schools seek Cell Phone Ban

Palm Beach County school leaders on Wednesday said they want to forbid students from carrying cell phones on campus as a way of blocking cyber-bullying.Violating rules against using cell phones at school, bullies send text messages and make Web postings that belittle their classmates, and arrange attacks before, during or after school, officials say.

Citing a rise of high-tech bullying, the School Board unanimously agreed to lobby for a change in state law that would enable school districts to banish cell phones. Superintendent Art Johnson wants the Legislature to consider the request during its session.

The law, adopted in 2004, allows students to take cell phones to school, but a local School Board policy bars students from using them at any time on campus. Students are not allowed to carry or use camera phones.

Story from south Florida's Sun-Sentinel.com.