Cell Phones in Schools Opinion Letter

Cell Phones Raise Security Concerns at Schools

Many people think that students having cell phones in school is a great idea. Many parents feel that they don’t have to worry as much about their children if they have a cell phone. They feel if they need to reach their child or their child needs to reach them, the cell phone can help them get in touch with each other right away. However, cell phones in school can lead to problems.

One problem is theft. Cell phones can be stolen. In January 2012, police arrested 13 high school students in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. People accused them of stealing more than $4,000 worth of cell phones and tablets from their classmates. An undercover investigation by police found that at least 24 devices had been stolen over two months at the school, according to nbcphiladelphia.com. Theft is a real concern when cell phones are allowed in schools.

Another problem is cell phone use during emergencies. Many people want students to have cell phones in emergencies. But this might not be safe. The National School Safety and Security Services (NSSSS) says that people in charge should have cell phones during emergencies. But it may cause harm if students use their phones in emergencies. If thousands of students make calls at the same time during an emergency, that could slow down the phone system. The NSSSS website says, “The use of cell phones by students could . . . decrease, not increase, school safety during a crisis.” When students use their cell phones during emergencies, another problem can be caused. Students’ calls may cause their parents to rush to the school during an emergency. Emergency workers might not want to have tons of parents running to the school. All those parents might get in the way during an emergency. They might make things less safe. Many parents want their children to have cell phones. They want to be able to reach their child at any time. One survey by vouchercloud.net found that of the 2,290 parents they asked, most of the parents got their kids their first cell phone when the child was six-years-old. 31% of the parents said they got their child a cell phone for “security reasons, so my child could always contact me.”

Text 1 May be photocopied for classroom use. © 2015 by Lucy Calkins and Colleagues from the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project from Units of Study for Teaching Reading (Heinemann: Portsmouth, NH). (rev. 1-21-16 Text 1: Cell Phones Raise Security Concerns at Schools ◆ page 2 But there are safety problems that are caused by cell phones in schools. Schools must think about these concerns. They must think carefully about security. Only then should they decide what to do about cell phones. C. J. Perkins School safety officer in Walmouth County 35 May be photocopied for classroom use. © 2015 by Lucy Calkins and Colleagues from the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project from Units of Study for Teaching Reading (Heinemann: Portsmouth, NH). (rev. 1-21-16) Text 2: New York City Mayor Changes Cell Phone Policy in Schools ◆ page 1 Text 2 New York City Mayor Changes Cell Phone Policy in Schools Mayor reverses a ban on cell phones that has existed since 1988 In January 2015, students in New York City received some happy news. Mayor DeBlasio changed the policy about cell phones in schools. Now, students could bring their phones to school. Now, school principals could decide the rules for using cell phones in their schools. Some of the options that principals can consider are: • ask students to store their phones in backpacks or another place during the day • say that cell phones can be used during lunch time or in special areas of the school • allow cell phones to be used in classrooms for instructional purposes “Parents should be able to call or text their kids,” the Mayor said when he announced his reform. “Lifting the ban respects families.” Prior to this change, some had claimed that the “no cell phones in school” policy was not enforced fairly. Some schools enforced the ban strictly. Some schools with metal detectors could easily find out if students had cell phones. In those schools, which were mostly in low-income areas, students were having their phones taken away or having to pay each day to store their phones in vans parked outside of the schools. But other schools ignored the ban. As long as teachers did not see the phones, they were okay with students having them. Many students are happy to be allowed to bring their phones to school. But not everyone agrees with this ruling. Many argue that phones are a major distraction in class. In an op-ed piece for The New York Post, Naomi Schaefer Riley argues it is a “terrible idea to allow cell phones in school.” She claims that students already spend too much time staring at screens. She says students will now spend their class time looking at their phones. They should be paying attention in class instead. Teachers could make cell

May be photocopied for classroom use. © 2015 by Lucy Calkins and Colleagues from the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project from Units of Study for Teaching Reading (Heinemann: Portsmouth, NH). (rev. 1-21-16)

Text 2: New York City Mayor Changes Cell Phone Policy in Schools ◆ page 2 phones part of the lessons for student. But Riley says they will have to check kids’ phones. They will need to make sure kids are doing educational work and not texting or visiting social media sites. Riley says, “Where once kids might have been using their phones to do some texting or even calling each other, now they can spend hours on social-networking sites, ignoring their [math] lessons.” Cell phones can be a distraction in class in another way. A phone ringing during a lesson can distract the other students and the teacher. Students report that when this occurs, the ringing is very distracting. In addition, some teachers argue that when mobile phones are banned in their classrooms, bullying decreases. But other people say this change is a good thing. Yin Cherd, a parent from Jamaica, Queens, talked to The Wall Street Journal. She said, “When my daughter gets off of school I want to text her and she texts me.” Cherd said she would worry about her children if they didn’t have phones. And some teachers are excited to bring cell phones into learning. Many apps can help students learn. There are apps that let students work on collaborative projects. There are apps that let teachers poll their students. Teachers can quiz students using their phones or let the class play games related to the lesson. There are even apps to support study skills and resources for history. Still, not all students have cell phones and that could be a problem. Schools will have to think very carefully about how to make good rules for cell phone use. Schools will need more training on how to identify and prevent cyber bullying. And all schools will require that no phones can be out during tests. Whatever rules are made about cell phones, though, some students might still find ways to break them. Lucia Paz, a 14-year-old from Brooklyn, told The Wall Street Journal, “At lunch I’ll just play music,” she said. “It’s like a relaxer for me sometimes.” What do you think? Should your town allow cell phones in schools? Article from a local newspaper

May be photocopied for classroom use. © 2015 by Lucy Calkins and Colleagues from the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project from Units of Study for Teaching Reading (Heinemann: Portsmouth, NH). (rev. 1-21-16)

Text 3: Cell Phones Should Be in Schools ◆ page 1 Text 3 Cell Phones Should Be in Schools Every day when kids go to school and they have to leave their cell phones behind them at home, that is a huge problem. Everyone has cell phones today (well, everyone over the age of 8). And telling kids that just because they are kids and in school that they can’t bring their cell phones is not fair. Kids need their cell phones for the same reasons that adults need their cell phones. They want to keep in touch with their friends and check the Internet, too. Sometimes after school we have play dates. That means we might need to use our phones and check with our parents that it’s okay. If we don’t have our phones in school, what are we supposed to do? They don’t let you use the office to call home just for any reason. You have to have an emergency and they don’t think a playmate is an emergency. But what if you forgot you had a playmate and you really needed to call home? You need your cell phone. Also, if we could have our cell phones in school, we’d probably do a lot better in school. Like you could use your phone to look up how to spell words and to look up information like if you didn’t know the capital of a country. In addition, sometimes parents have to text or call their kids. For example, I had a dentist appointment two weeks ago and my mom forgot to tell me. She didn’t have any way to let me know about it until the end of the day so I didn’t know I had to go until school was over. If I could have had my cell phone in school, then she could have texted me so I would have been prepared. This is why it is very important for schools to change the rules and let students bring their cell phones to school. Right now, in my school, if you bring your cell phone to school and your teacher sees it he or she has to take it away from you and your parent has to go to school to get it back. This is a very unfair policy which should be changed. Students should be able to have their cell phones in school. A blog post entry, from Jeremy, age 11