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I would seriously question a school administration that isn't reliable enough to relay parental messages left for their students to the students.
Unless, of course, the parental message is to "pick up some flour at the corner store on your way home" or "your mani-pedi got rescheduled for tomorrow". Which can wait, until school is over, and CHILD is allowed to turn on their cell if that's the rule.
I don't get the big deal of needing to be in contact with your kid during the SCHOOL day or a kid needing to be in contact with anyone? How DID anyone survive before the advent of personal affordable cell phones?
My child is in the middle school of a K-12 school so be honest with you, I have no idea what the HS policy is for personal cell phones.
My son's high school has over 2000 students who each have 6-8 classes/day and there are 3 different lunches as well as open campus. Getting a message through is not always as easy as you'd think.
When was the last time you saw a public pay phone?
Sometimes, the message has nothing to do with rescheduling a "mani-pedi"...but something to the effect of "your math tutor called. She is sick today and has cancelled your tutoring session" or some of the teams and clubs send mass texts to relay information regarding practices and meetings. There are occasionally last minute changes due to weather or other unforseeable events. My son's school allows texting during passing or off periods. I will occasionally get a text from him....the messages are anything from "going to Bob's house after school today" to "staying after school for help in English" to "Did you remember to register me for the lacrosse tournament this week? Today is the last day to register"...etc etc....I'll admit, it comes in very handy.
Oh...and get used to it. Many college dorms don't even have phones in them anymore.
Last edited by maciesmom; 10-30-2010 at 05:42 PM..
My son's high school has over 2000 students who each have 6-8 classes/day and there are 3 different lunches as well as open campus. Getting a message through is not always as easy as you'd think.
When was the last time you saw a public pay phone?
Sometimes, the message has nothing to do with rescheduling a "mani-pedi"...but something to the effect of "your math tutor called. She is sick today and has cancelled your tutoring session" or some of the teams and clubs send mass texts to relay information regarding practices and meetings. There are occasionally last minute changes due to weather or other unforseeable events. My son's school allows texting during passing or off periods. I will occasionally get a text from him....the messages are anything from "going to Bob's house after school today" to "staying after school for help in English" to "Did you remember to register me for the lacrosse tournament this week? Today is the last day to register"...etc etc....I'll admit, it comes in very handy.
Oh...and get used to it. Many college dorms don't even have phones in them anymore.
Apparently there seems to be some confusion revolving around why I do not think personal cell phones have a place in a school when it comes to the student body.
Let me make it clear: if a school has a policy against them, that's what it is. If a school has a policy regarding times during the school day in which they can be used, that's what it is.
I agree ^^^! Policy is policy! Also, according my MY kids, every time you turn around, kids in class are playing games & texting instead of listening to lectures. Most are quite clever at concealing them, but the ones who get caught get downright venemous when their phones are confiscated...many of the parents do as well.
If a kid has an emergency, go to the office and use the phone. If a parent needs to contact them, notify the office and let them know it's an emergency. I know it's a MAJOR incovenience, but just pretend it's like when WE parents were in school! Of course, that could be terribly difficult for some parents, as many of them are as addicted to their cell phones as their kids are!
Apparently there seems to be some confusion revolving around why I do not think personal cell phones have a place in a school when it comes to the student body.
Let me make it clear: if a school has a policy against them, that's what it is. If a school has a policy regarding times during the school day in which they can be used, that's what it is.
I absolutely agree with the bolded but to be honest, that's not exactly all you said...
Quote:
I would seriously question a school administration that isn't reliable enough to relay parental messages left for their students to the students.
...
I don't get the big deal of needing to be in contact with your kid during the SCHOOL day or a kid needing to be in contact with anyone? How DID anyone survive before the advent of personal affordable cell phones?
The above was what I was responding to. And yes, there are some times, during the school day where a message IS important to get through and IME the school is not always able to get messages to kids in a timely manner for any number of reasons. But I also agree that the priviledge certainly can be abused and I have no issue whatsoever with teachers or admin dealing with that abuse as they see fit.
I don't get the big deal of needing to be in contact with your kid during the SCHOOL day or a kid needing to be in contact with anyone? How DID anyone survive before the advent of personal affordable cell phones?
It's not that people NEED to be in contact. Of course we would all survive if we were not. But what is the big deal about using phones to stay in contact? Why are you so opposed to it?
My son's high school has over 2000 students who each have 6-8 classes/day and there are 3 different lunches as well as open campus. Getting a message through is not always as easy as you'd think..
Thank you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by maciesmom
Sometimes, the message has nothing to do with rescheduling a "mani-pedi"...but something to the effect of "your math tutor called. She is sick today and has cancelled your tutoring session" or some of the teams and clubs send mass texts to relay information regarding practices and meetings. There are occasionally last minute changes due to weather or other unforseeable events. My son's school allows texting during passing or off periods. I will occasionally get a text from him....the messages are anything from "going to Bob's house after school today" to "staying after school for help in English" to "Did you remember to register me for the lacrosse tournament this week? Today is the last day to register"...etc etc....I'll admit, it comes in very handy.
Oh...and get used to it. Many college dorms don't even have phones in them anymore.
I think that parents of elementary aged kids cannot imagine a world where things are very fluid, plans change, kids need rides, pickup times change, kids need to stay after school to go to the library, or were going to stay after and now they are not. Practices are cancelled. Game times change. Rehearsals days are changed. Study sessions after school don't happen.
Of course if there are 3 kids you can multiply all that by three. The phones are handy.
I think that parents of elementary aged kids cannot imagine a world where things are very fluid, plans change, kids need rides, pickup times change, kids need to stay after school to go to the library, or were going to stay after and now they are not. Practices are cancelled. Game times change. Rehearsals days are changed. Study sessions after school don't happen.
Of course if there are 3 kids you can multiply all that by three. The phones are handy.
All of this happened when my kids were in middle school and high school and there were no cell phones. We figured out how to get the messages to kids *after* school hours.
Cell phones are disruptive in the classroom. There is NO reason for them to be on during class hours even during passing periods (which are after all only a few minutes long). I could see allowing them at lunch periods, but not during class time.
After school is fine. Why a parent needs to get that message to the child during his classes is beyond me.
Yeap. Last year was the first year that the middle school and high school said no costumes. I think they decided that things were getting too risque, morbid or gruesome (maybe even sometimes all 3 at once).
And they have their issues with students and masks and identity and....schools these days...
And maybe the teachers hope to get in a little teaching.
Just wanted to say....you're a really great Dad. You have a good kid on your hands who just likes to have fun, it is a novel concept these days. Keep your sense of humor and he'll keep his, you'll both be just fine. Keep up the great work, Dad.
Thanks for the comments. It's nice to hear I might be doing things right! You wonder when you're making decisions by yourself...
On the cellphone thing, I agree that policy is the most important word here.
Neither of my teenagers can use their phones during the day (well...actually, physically they're perfectly capable of using them, but they're not meant to) and I'm fine with it. We can all wait until the end of the day, so far that's worked even with plans changing, we've always sorted that out in the time we've had. If I really need to relay a message to them (which I have done in the past), it works going through the office - and that's how it works every time with my youngest in elementary.
And not to sound cold or detached, but I don't need to hear from them during the day. Go be in school, that's their world. I'll catch up on it later. If there's an emergency on either side there are still routes of communication.
And as my son has made obvious, he would just bug me if he was allowed to use it
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or some of the teams and clubs send mass texts to relay information regarding practices and meetings. There are occasionally last minute changes due to weather or other unforseeable events. My son's school allows texting during passing or off periods. I will occasionally get a text from him....the messages are anything from "going to Bob's house after school today" to "staying after school for help in English" to "Did you remember to register me for the lacrosse tournament this week? Today is the last day to register"...etc etc....I'll admit, it comes in very handy. 
It's nice to hear I might be doing things right! You wonder when you're making decisions by yourself...
