Debate: Should cell phones and pagers be allowed in school?

NEA Today, Mar 2001 by Washburn, Gail, Mack, Don

yes

GAIL WASHBURN teaches are at at Range/nd Elementary School in Louisville, Kentucky. A 21-year teaching veteran, she recently served on a National Board for Professional Teaching Standards committee, writing elementary art standards.

"Mom's working late tonight, son. Please wait for me by the front door of your school immediately after basketball practice.

"Don't play around in the gym, because I have another Association meeting this evening and your dad is working second shift."

If only I could give this message to my son!

I was always taught to be the most I could be. Get involved in your job and community, volunteer, give back. I have taught my students and children to have that same work ethic and attitude. How disconnected I feel when I can't reach my son at school to tell him of a change of plans.

If only I could talk to him now. How many times have I left messages with an already overworked office secretary? And how often have I left notes in my school mailbox, unread for days?

I am a teacher, and I believe disruptive beeps and rings should be turned off and the phone set to vibrate mode during class. But in this great age of E-technology, I should be able to reach my son.

There are more single parents, divorced custodial parents, and workaholic parents than ever. More moms are choosing careers over staying at home. More dads are choosing to commute out-oftown for better jobs.

All this is juggled with afterschool classes, sports, clubs, detention-what are parents to do?

We now have daycares at the workplace. Personal Internet camera surveillance at child-care facilities seems to improve employee morale and attendance.

Let's face it-parents work better when they know their kids are okay. We, as educators, want them to be more involved with their kids. And cell phones are one way to accomplish that.

But there's more than the parents' dilemma. Let's look at the bigger picture. Times are changing. E-commerce is on the rise. In the future, there will be telephones on wristwatches, backpacks, notebooks. Will we ban them?

I remember grounding my son once and telling him he couldn't use the telephone. Hearing laughter and talking coming from his room, I tiptoed up the steps and quickly opened the door. To my surprise, he was on his computer, talking to his friends face to face, voice to voice.

The future is now. Computers are cell phones and pagers. Students will find a way to use them, just as our generation used the once-prohibited calculators and tape recorders.

Finally, we say we should teach by example. Can we as teachers live without our cell phones and pagers?

How many times has our school telephone system blacked-- out because of heavy rains and strong winds (better known as long-winded teachers on the only available phone line)?

In case of emergencies, cell phones can be the only lifeline out of the school facility. Remember Columbine?

Not all cellular technology interferes with learning. With the newest technology, students can use their cell phones to connect to the Internet.

Let's find ways like these to incorporate cellular technology into our classroom curriculum.

no

DON MACK is computer lab facilitator and chair of the learning media services department at Laramie High School in Wyoming. He has taught for 23 years. He edits the Albany County Education Association newsletter and is Wyoming's representative to the NEA Resolutions Committee.

Increasingly, authorities have outlawed the use of cell phones by motorists because of the risk of accidents. In a school classroom, we don't typically have students driving automobiles, but we conduct a wide variety of activities that require every bit as much attention from the student as traffic would from a motorist.

Schools are islands of learning where a teacher and a group of students are provided the opportunity to interact, interrupted only by the passing bell.

Education professionals have campaigned long and hard to eliminate the incessant intercom and paper barrage that accosts the classroom. In many places, we have been successful, and interruptions from secretaries, counselors, and administrators have been cut to a bare minimum.

The incursion of cell phones and beepers could deal a severe setback to any progress that's been made to bar interruptions.

Early this year, a colleague's presentation was disrupted when a student's cell phone, carried into the classroom in a backpack, began ringing. Initially, both the teacher and students attempted to ignore the distraction and continued working. But after several rings, the owner of the cell phone apologized and answered the call.

The call was of a social nature, and the student hung up as quickly as possible. But the flow of instruction was disrupted, and valuable learning time was lost. This isn't an isolated occurrence.

Setting the phone to vibrate instead of ring is not enough. Whether the phone beeps, squawks, belts out an N'Sync tune, or simply vibrates, the pesky little device will continue to demand attention. Very few adults will let a call go unanswered. And my observations of my own children and students indicate that an unanswered phone call drives them up a wall.