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TAMPA — Hillsborough students openly breaking the rules and using cell phones in class should brace for trouble. A crackdown is coming next year.
"It's a pretty simple slogan: If we see it, we take it," School Board member Carol Kurdell said. "It doesn't get any clearer."
The comment summed up a workshop discussion on Friday — one twice interrupted by ringing cell phones — on how to address rampant abuse of the devices by students.
The current policy says students must keep phones off during the school day. Many don't.
When school begins in August, school officials want all electronic distractions put away. Otherwise, they may be confiscated.
Some school principals present praised the idea, which the board must approve in a vote. They say the situation is out of control, with parents calling kids in the middle of class, and seemingly harmless phone pranks turning into cheating scandals.
School officials would return the phones after school. They have yet to figure out some details, including the chain of consequences and how to enforce an out-of-sight rule on school buses.
Not that the change would solve everything. Many students have learned to text with their hands in their pockets, without looking at their phones.
"Every rule that's in place, there's going to be a way to work around it," said Christopher Farkas, the incoming principal at Freedom High. "That's being a child."
[Last modified: Jun 10, 2008 09:45 AM]
Comments on this article
by Mike
Jun 10, 2008 9:45 AM
Wow! As a teacher, I can tell you that this is the same policy found in many of the hills. county schools, but it is not enforced by the administration and teachers since there are many other issues that we have to deal with!
by teacher
Jun 9, 2008 10:23 AM
I think the policy is great! Stand up to these kids who are disrupting the learning process! Put the authority back in the hands of the teachers!
by BBMOM
Jun 8, 2008 12:33 PM
I am in Pinellas but I applaud the rule. The only thing I would change is the school bus rule. If the phones are on vibrate then they should be able to use them. My son calls me as soon as he gets on the bus to let me know he's on his way home.
by just me
Jun 8, 2008 12:30 PM
the cell phone rules have been in the student handbook for years, it's a shame that the school board actually has to force the hand of individual administrators because they don't have the guts to enforce the rule.
by Timmy!
Jun 8, 2008 9:08 AM
"Every rule that's in place, there's going to be a way to work around it," said Christopher Farkas, the incoming principal at Freedom High. "That's being a child."
Milquetoast principal translation: I'm not going to enforce this. The kids will rule
by louise
Jun 8, 2008 9:03 AM
We too have had trouble with cell phones, we adopted a policy at our school, if we see the phone it is confiscated and returned at the end of the day, if it happens again, a parent must come in and pick it up. It works.
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