Texting in class is a criminal offense

[Gidan]

And this is exactly why there is a mass of tools who just take everything that is shoved down their throats their entire lives. It's ingrained from fucking childhood to just bend over and take it from everyone.

I highly doubt she was "disrupting" anything by texting. It's not like a siren goes off every time she sends or receives.

Next they'll start arresting kids who don't do their homework. This is fucking pathetic.

The problem with this is that you have to draw the line somewhere. Even children need to learn to obey the rules that are set down for them. If texting in class is against the rules, then it shouldn't be allowed regardless of whether is was or was not disruptive to the class. If the child refuses to accept those rules, then they will need to accept the punishment that comes with breaking the rules. In this case, he refusing to stop is what caused a disruption to the class. Those students in the class that wanted to learn were the ones hurt by this as the teacher had to stop teaching to deal with a girl who refused to follow the rule that were set down. That still does not mean the authorities needed to be contacted. It doesn't appear from the police report that she posed any sort of threat to the teacher or the students around her. If the teacher was unable to control her and the principle was also unable to do so, then the parents should have been contacted to remove her from the premises. If the parents throw a fit, then you give them the clear option of coming to get their child or the authorities will be contacted to do so for them.

Parents can certainly be unreasonable when it comes to their children. Many parents out there are delusional in that they think their children can do no wrong. If they throw a fit then they throw a fit. As principle, it is your responsibility to deal with them regardless of the way they see the situation. A simple choice should be put to the parents and they can decide on their own how to proceed. If the rules are clearly broken, then the principle has a duty to enforce those rules regardless of what delusion the parents of that child may have.

As the parents, they have a duty to respect the rules as they are in the school in which their child is attending. If they disagree with those rules, their are ways to voice that opinion. Overall in this situation, the failure was on the part of the principle for over reacting to the situation. While I agree that she was certainly in the wrong and that she should be punished for her actions, having to appear in court and having a criminal offense on her record is not the way this should have been handled.

[brinstar]

And this is exactly why there is a mass of tools who just take everything that is shoved down their throats their entire lives. It's ingrained from fucking childhood to just bend over and take it from everyone.

yes and no

on the one hand, schools have a tendency to discourage free thinking and creativity in their students, and in that respect i would agree

but when it comes to rules and disciplinary action, it's a different matter altogether. rules are in place not only so classrooms can be free from disruptions, but so kids realize that there are consequences for breaking them. beyond that, it's a microcosm of adult society. in the real world, you can't just keep breaking a law and not expect any consequences! kids are supposed to learn this from their parents. obviously this one didn't, and i'm glad the school had the moxie to step in.

[Harrison]

And this is exactly why there is a mass of tools who just take everything that is shoved down their throats their entire lives. It's ingrained from fucking childhood to just bend over and take it from everyone.

yes and no

on the one hand, schools have a tendency to discourage free thinking and creativity in their students, and in that respect i would agree

but when it comes to rules and disciplinary action, it's a different matter altogether. rules are in place not only so classrooms can be free from disruptions, but so kids realize that there are consequences for breaking them. beyond that, it's a microcosm of adult society. in the real world, you can't just keep breaking a law and not expect any consequences! kids are supposed to learn this from their parents. obviously this one didn't, and i'm glad the school had the moxie to step in.

I think you're the only one that got what I was saying.

[Lueyen]

Harrison did you read the linked police report? Seriously there is a time to fight stupid irrational behavior that is just "following the rules" and a time to fight stupid rules, this sure doesn't look like one of them. This girl showed a complete lack of respect for all school staff involved as well as the police officers involved. Leah mentioned she thought the girl was scared shiftless, even if she was she hid it pretty well, a young lady who was scared shitless wouldn't be laughing about where the phone was found when she was strip searched. This sounds more to me like an unruly teen girl who need to learn some authoritative respect. This doesn't mean I think she needs to learn unquestioning respect, and obedience, but she is in dire need of a lesson in when to shut her mouth and do as she's told. Kids like her are not growing up to become brain dead obedient tools, kids like her are growing up to be disrespectful adult tools. Next time you see some adult breaking some kind of rule or law inconveniencing everyone else around them (such as a pedestrian who walks through a cross walk while it says "don't walk", or a bicyclist who rides through the same said cross walk so they don't have to wait on a stop light, or a driver who can't be bothered to use their turn signal) think of this girl, as thats the kind of tool she's going to turn into, not the opposite end of the spectrum you are talking about.

I know it's a slight derail, but I thought it might be interesting to see peoples thoughts on it. I'm not a parent, but in this day and age, if I did have a child in school who was old enough that they'd have their own cell phone (meaning probably around middle school to high school) I think I would want them to keep it on so that I could get a hold of them in an emergency. On the opposite side I can definitely see where the disruption of cell texting comes into play, and thinking back on my days in school, my parents contacting the office in an emergency worked just fine. Based on this I think it's reasonable to require the cell phones are turned off during class, but not to exclude them from being in a child's possession all together.

[Arlos]

The other problem with cell phones in class is that texting makes it WAY easier to cheat on tests. Especially with the size of some of the phones out there, it wouldn't be hard to hide one from a teacher such that you could still get messages and send messages.

-Arlos

[Drem]

speaking of asshole cyclists we are getting this new breed of idiots that think they're actually cars. i don't know if this happens a lot elsewhere but, if there isn't a bike lane they will ride straight up in the middle of the road at max speed for them (really fuckin slow for a car) in the middle of 25/30 downtown areas. and they don't look behind them to see the huge trail of cars they're creating and generally have no regard whatsoever for anyone else on the road except their self-righteous, completely unprotected asses. nothing has ever pissed me off on the road as much as these people. i've missed turns, lights, yields, everything due to these fuckin morons getting in the way

i'm literally at the point where i'm almost leaning out of my car to call them stupid fuckheads and to tell them to get on the sidewalk before i lovetap their rear wheels. but i guess that'd probably cripple their eco-friendly machinery. and i'm not a dick, so

/roadrage

[Foutty]

Drem, I am so with you on the this. These people drive me CRAZY. Northern VA has an extensive set of paved bike paths, but they still ride in the road, run red lights and slow to a crawl with the slightest incline. I ride a bike and skateboard, but not in fucking traffic. GRRR

[Gidan]

I can not think of a single reason a child would need to have a cell phone in school. In case of an emergency, the school can be contacted and they will be able to locate your child in a short time to either bring to a phone or to relay a message. There is no reason your child needs to have a phone with them in school.

When you child reaches the age that they are able to and are driving themselves to school, then at that time having a cell phone available in the car could be a good thing, but again there is no reason that phone would need to enter the school with the child.

[Harrison]

I could list a million hypothetical situations where having a cell phone would save them from harm.

On that same note, there are a million reasons why they should be allowed to have one. Very few reasons why not...

Solution: beat bad parents with chains.

[Lueyen]

but again there is no reason that phone would need to enter the school with the child.

I considered this, and in the case of a parent needing to get a hold of a child in an emergency I agree, there is no need for a child to have a cell phone on them. However part of the reason I'd want a child to have a cell phone is the ability to easily call for help no matter where they were. You could even require that the phones be turned off and stay that way, however I can not discount what hundreds of students with cell phones could mean in the event of an earth quake, a fire, or even a school shooting.

[Gidan]

"You can bring your toy to school with you but it has to stay turned off and in your pocket all day"

good luck with that.

It will start with a quick check of something, then it will be a few minutes, then and hour. Next thing you know, it will be on all day.

Though if I were to send my kids to school with a cell phone that was to be off, I would randomly call it. If it rings, its on. If it goes straight to VM, its off.

If the big concern is disasters, you could easily provide your child an old cell phone with no service and tell them in case of an emergency call 911. It will still work.

[Lueyen]

If the phone is used at all during class time, or if they forget to shut it off and it rings, it is immediately confiscated, and only returned to the parent in person. If children in school can not be taught to keep the things off at appropriate times, then as adults they won't shut them off in a movie theater or on an airplane.

Drem I hear you on the bicycle deal, my beef is not with the slowing up traffic, as often time after a few moments I'm able to get around them, my beef is after this when I come to a stop light, the bike then goes through in the cross walk (never walking it) and is now ahead of me again. Be a traffic vehicle, or be a pedestrian... don't be both. That being said Portland is "bike friendly" in that we have bike lanes all over the place.

[Foutty]

My daughter is 13 and takes her cell phone to school everyday, although they can only have them out in between classes and at lunch. It makes life easier on both of us, whether it's me texting her to let her know that I will be home late or her letting me know she's staying after and taking the late bus. It's seriously not that big of a deal.

Now if someone is disrupting class, be it from a cell phone or a dildo, that's a whole different issue...but I don't think the cops need to be called (unless it's a violent situation)

[Arlos]

I think the cops were called to conduct the search. The teacher saw her with a phone, she claimed not to have one. Rather than have the teachers search her (especially if they were all male), they got the cops involved.

I don't have too much of a problem with cell phones at school, but they absolutely shouldn't be allowed to be used in a classroom. Ideally, there'd be a cheap room-wide cellphone jammer that schools could install, so that they couldn't be used regardless, but I dunno that the technology exists for that.

-Arlos

[Harrison]

Yeah, and when there's a disaster and someone dies because of said jammer...let the shitstorm ensue.

[Tikker]

eh, who really cares if it was a cell phone, or tiddly winks


kid got caught, lied, busted

end of story

[Harrison]

And being arrested is a completely appropriate response...

[Iccarra]

Cell phones should be off during classtime, period, imo. If some catastrophe happens they can turn it on to use it. If there is an emergency I'm not only going to call my kids' phones but the school office to make sure I've pursued every avenue to reach them. I've never had my kids busted with their cell phones on in class...I expect because they know the consequences.

[Drem]

seriously. this girl was just simply an idiot. they didn't like "call the cops" on her, either, they already had one there. if you read the attached police report it says they asked a school grounds officer to check on it. then ya, he "called the cops", as in, he called a female officer in to search the girl because he wouldn't do it (for obvious reasons). and the girl just sat there lying and denying everything until they had irrefutable proof

for one i'm kinda glad they did what they did to her. too many people are pathological liars in this society and get away it with all the time because people put so much faith into words. i'm glad they searched her and proved her wrong. she deserved it all for being a douchebag

[araby]

My son's school allows them to have ipods, phones, or whatever...as long as they don't get caught with it.

That is literally the rule. If it's out, it's gone. At lunch or during their breaks they can have it, np.

This is my son's second year at this school, and he's managed to keep both ipod and phone without getting into any trouble.

[Lueyen]

. Ideally, there'd be a cheap room-wide cellphone jammer that schools could install, so that they couldn't be used regardless, but I dunno that the technology exists for that.

I'm pretty sure something along those lines exists, I think I recall reading about something along those lines being used in prisons. Of course there is the point Harrison made.

[Foutty]

Plus they are indiscriminate, expensive and completely unnecessary.

[Evermore]

fuck all the bullshit ITT

teacher tells you to stop

YOU FUCKING STOP

PERIOD

dumb bitch got what she deserved

I tend to agree tho the criminal charge is a bit extreme. but yes Brin is correct.

[10sun]

Ideally, the service providers setup a plan where the school can establish times when texting & calls are blocked.
eg. Once every hour for 5 minutes the phone can be used from XX:00 to XX:05 & prolonged duration during lunch hours with the exception of 911 calls.

That way the student can only use their mobile device for other forms of cheating, such as using the onboard message storage for crib notes & bluetoothing their classmates... ugh, just ban the shit from schools and put an emergency alarm in all classrooms... oh wait, that exists already in the form of a fire alarm.

[Gaazy]

I didnt even have a cell phone in high school. You really didnt see any, and im only 23. Maybe they just werent big in this area yet or something, because I dont really remember many people even having one until senior year and into college.

Thats still ridiculous though lol. God, nowadays you see like 11 and 12 year olds running around with fucking blackberries and shit everywhere you look