johnnymk
09-05-2008, 04:29 AM
http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080905/NEWS/809050412/-1/nletter05&source=nletter-news
Like many parents, Michele Battista wants her 16-year-old son, a Colts Neck High School student, to bring his cellular phone to school so the two can communicate and coordinate transportation after the last bell rings.
Though school ends at the same time every day of the week, football practice schedules, after-school club meetings, and rides home from friends are all subject to change, she said.
The vast majority of 15- to 17-year-olds, 50 to 70 percent of 12- to 14-year-olds, and, now, a number of 5- to 9-year-olds have their own wireless phones, according to a May 2007 report from iGR, which researches wireless and mobile technology.
And those numbers are likely to increase.
As more teens and tweens own cell phones, schools have adopted policies on usage. Most area public schools recognize cell phones as a modern necessity and allow the phones in school if they remain turned off and out of sight, but officials say these gadgets do more than make phone calls nowadays.
Aside from becoming an obvious distraction in class, high-tech cell phones can have nefarious uses — students can use their cell phones to take pictures of fellow students in locker rooms; send text messages to bully a fellow classmate; use them as calculators, or even to cheat on a test.
The Freehold Regional High School Board of Education recently adopted a new cell-phone policy. Their solution: prohibit cell phones to leave students' lockers until the standard school day ends.
Some districts, such as Wall, have added a provision to their rules, banning phones with cameras from school grounds.
Some phones can download educational-based programs, such as a graphing calculator application for $5.
In Toms River, where students must keep their phones off and away, the calculator excuse will not pass muster.
"No means no. We cannot send mixed messages," said Toms River Regional School District Superintendent Michael J. Ritacco.
The old turned-off, out-of-sight policy has not worked for Freehold Regional High School district, spokeswoman Ilse Whisner said.
"It's an addiction," she said. Students can text with phones held behind their backs or in their pockets, she said. "Kids have become so adept at using their phones . . . that the old policy isn't sufficient."
Freehold Regional's locker policy grates on Battista. She worries the policy will increase the number of thefts from lockers, which, she said, fills the Colts Neck police blotter every school year. She suggests that better enforcement of the prior policy would have been a better solution.
Whisner said that fears of theft as a result of the new policy are exaggerated. Most stolen items are in gym lockers or a result of sharing locker combinations or leaving lockers open, she said.
The district requires that cell phones remain in hallway lockers, which should stay locked with unshared lock combinations, Whisner said. She added that the district encourages students to leave all valuables, including cell phones, at home.
Regardless of these policies, Battista said her son will keep his phone with him during the school day. If he doesn't use it, and no one sees it, the only difference is that there is less chance it will be stolen, she said.
Whisner said that there is a difference.
"We're not going to tell our kids to defy the policy," she said.
While educators agree that phones can impede the learning process through distractions and cheating, cell phones can also be used as an education tool.
If used correctly, phones with cameras, Internet access and other accessories could complement an education in practical and creative ways, New Jersey Education Association spokeswoman Kathy Coulibaly said.
For example, school newspapers or journalism courses could make use of cameras and Web logs, she said.
"If students could demonstrate there would be practical applications to use in learning, they should take those concerns to administrators, who would make their decisions based upon" preserving academic integrity and maximizing learning potential, she said.
Like many parents, Michele Battista wants her 16-year-old son, a Colts Neck High School student, to bring his cellular phone to school so the two can communicate and coordinate transportation after the last bell rings.
Though school ends at the same time every day of the week, football practice schedules, after-school club meetings, and rides home from friends are all subject to change, she said.
The vast majority of 15- to 17-year-olds, 50 to 70 percent of 12- to 14-year-olds, and, now, a number of 5- to 9-year-olds have their own wireless phones, according to a May 2007 report from iGR, which researches wireless and mobile technology.
And those numbers are likely to increase.
As more teens and tweens own cell phones, schools have adopted policies on usage. Most area public schools recognize cell phones as a modern necessity and allow the phones in school if they remain turned off and out of sight, but officials say these gadgets do more than make phone calls nowadays.
Aside from becoming an obvious distraction in class, high-tech cell phones can have nefarious uses — students can use their cell phones to take pictures of fellow students in locker rooms; send text messages to bully a fellow classmate; use them as calculators, or even to cheat on a test.
The Freehold Regional High School Board of Education recently adopted a new cell-phone policy. Their solution: prohibit cell phones to leave students' lockers until the standard school day ends.
Some districts, such as Wall, have added a provision to their rules, banning phones with cameras from school grounds.
Some phones can download educational-based programs, such as a graphing calculator application for $5.
In Toms River, where students must keep their phones off and away, the calculator excuse will not pass muster.
"No means no. We cannot send mixed messages," said Toms River Regional School District Superintendent Michael J. Ritacco.
The old turned-off, out-of-sight policy has not worked for Freehold Regional High School district, spokeswoman Ilse Whisner said.
"It's an addiction," she said. Students can text with phones held behind their backs or in their pockets, she said. "Kids have become so adept at using their phones . . . that the old policy isn't sufficient."
Freehold Regional's locker policy grates on Battista. She worries the policy will increase the number of thefts from lockers, which, she said, fills the Colts Neck police blotter every school year. She suggests that better enforcement of the prior policy would have been a better solution.
Whisner said that fears of theft as a result of the new policy are exaggerated. Most stolen items are in gym lockers or a result of sharing locker combinations or leaving lockers open, she said.
The district requires that cell phones remain in hallway lockers, which should stay locked with unshared lock combinations, Whisner said. She added that the district encourages students to leave all valuables, including cell phones, at home.
Regardless of these policies, Battista said her son will keep his phone with him during the school day. If he doesn't use it, and no one sees it, the only difference is that there is less chance it will be stolen, she said.
Whisner said that there is a difference.
"We're not going to tell our kids to defy the policy," she said.
While educators agree that phones can impede the learning process through distractions and cheating, cell phones can also be used as an education tool.
If used correctly, phones with cameras, Internet access and other accessories could complement an education in practical and creative ways, New Jersey Education Association spokeswoman Kathy Coulibaly said.
For example, school newspapers or journalism courses could make use of cameras and Web logs, she said.
"If students could demonstrate there would be practical applications to use in learning, they should take those concerns to administrators, who would make their decisions based upon" preserving academic integrity and maximizing learning potential, she said.