Laura Hall's Cell Phone AUP

http://awurl.com/bwnLi15XG

Middleburg High School has made many changes to their cell phone acceptable use policy in the past few years. One thing that they have added is that students are allowed to have their cell phones on them. However one thing i don't agree on is if it the student is found using the cell phone it is an automatic three-day out of school suspension. As well as if the phone rings, the student is given a harsh penalty for that as well.

I'm not saying i think it is okay to talk on the cell phone or even have it out during the school day. However, with most circumstances i think three days out of school is pretty rash. If the studetn is using it in the middle of class or using it for cheating purposes then this is a good punishment because it fits the crime. However, say a student is calling their parent because their practice after school was canceled or they forgot an assignment at home. These are not situations that a student should be pentalized three days of class for. These are things that can be handled within a couple minutes and go back to business as usual.

Also, there has been many times that I have forgotten to turn my phone off before class and someone has called me and disrupted the class. It is not something i did on purpose, just something i forgot about. The article even said that most of the time it is the parents that call. Well i don't think the students should get in trouble especially not to the extent of three days out of class for a one time error. On the other hand, if it becomes a regular problem then there can be more serious consequences.

Overall, i think this rule only hurts students more than it is helping teachers and the rest of the school. If students are getting in trouble and missing three days of school because of forgetfulness, that is just causing the teachers more work to try to catch those students up. As well as giving administrators more paperwork that isn't always necessary.