Cell+phones+should+not+be+banned+in+schools

"Why hurt the thousands of parents and students who use the cell phones appropriately—only to and from school or in cases of emergency?"

**Not All Risky Items Can Be Banned **

As the representative of teachers, the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) is keenly aware that almost any item that a student could conceivably bring to school—including pens, pencils, and even paper—could potentially be used for mischief or harm. Yet, it would be counterproductive to ban every possible source of mischief from the educational environment. Instead, based on city-wide parameters that ban their use in schools, parents, teachers and administrators could work together to develop a school-by-school cell phone policy. If teachers, parents and students are involved in this school-by-school planning, all will have a stake in enforcing the rules that are agreed upon—enforcement that is necessary for any aspects of an effective discipline code.

**Consequences for Cheating and Crime **

For example, without doubt a cell phone can be a tool for cheating and cheating is something we must crack down on. But does that mean we should ban any material that can be used for cheating—including pencils and pens? Because it is obviously impossible to learn in such an environment, the DOE, as with other aspects of the discipline code, must empower its staff to prevent cheating and impose consequences if cheating is discovered. Likewise, with respect to cell phones, the DOE must empower its staff and be willing to impose the consequences for a violation. Similarly, cell phones may be the target of crime, but so too can almost anything of value. Indeed, the DOE does not ban from schools many other items that are worth a lot more money than cell phones. For example, sneakers in the style [du jour] can cost hundreds of dollars. Instead, it relies, as it must, on Educators, administrators and parents to provide a safe atmosphere for learning on a school-by-school basis.

**A Proper Balance **

The DOE argues that it declined to adopt a plan similar to Petitioners' proposal that it construct lockers so that students could check their phones as they enter a building because [as stated in the DePinto affidavit] "the significant financial resources needed to design and build the facilities and thereafter supervise and staff such an endeavor in 1,400 schools" are better spent elsewhere. This misses the point. Whereas the DOE makes a compelling case for why cell phones cannot be used in classes, there are many schools that could craft a policy that permits students to keep a cell phone on their person but require it [to] be turned off, allow students to keep a cell phone in a school locker, or develop some other plan that is appropriate for the individual school. Then, and only then, in the few schools where there are persistent violations would a discussion of an outright ban on possession be appropriate. This would maintain the balance of keeping classrooms free from disruption, yet permit students and parents [to] have the perceived security that a cell phone provides.

**Footnotes **
 * 1) In October 2006, a plane carrying New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle and his flight instructor crashed into a high-rise building in Manhattan, killing them both and creating chaos.

**Further Readings ** **Books ** **Periodicals **
 * Kern Alexander //The Law of Schools, Students and Teachers in a Nutshell//. St. Paul, MN: West Group, July 2003.
 * Anti-Defamation League //Responding to Bigotry and Intergroup Strife on Campus//. New York: Anti-Defamation League, 2001.
 * Rami Benbenishty and Ron Avi Astor //School Violence in Context: Culture, Neighborhood, Family, School, and Gender//. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.
 * William C. Bosher Jr. et al. //The School Law Handbook: What Every Leader Needs to Know//. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2004.
 * Susan Brooks-Young //Critical Technology Issues for School Leaders//. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, 2006.
 * David L. Brunsma //The School Uniform Movement and What It Tells Us About American Education//. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2004.
 * Ronnie Casella //Selling Us the Fortress: The Promotion of Techno-Security Equipment for Schools//. New York: Routledge, 2006.
 * Bruce S. Cooper et al. //Better Policies, Better Schools: Theories and Applications//. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 2003.
 * <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Joan Del Fattore //The Fourth R: Conflicts Over Religion in America's Public Schools//. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2005.
 * <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Michael Dorn and Chris Dorn //Innocent Targets: When Terrorism Comes to School//. Macon, GA: Safe Havens International, 2005.
 * <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Laura Finley and Peter Finley //Piss Off!: How Drug Testing and Other Privacy Violations Are Alienating America's Youth//. Monroe, ME: Common Courage, 2004.
 * <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Patricia H. Hinchey //Student Rights: A Reference Handbook//. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2001.
 * <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Ian K. Macgillivray //Sexual Orientation and School Policy: A Practical Guide for Teachers, Administrators, and Community Activists//. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003.
 * <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Erica R. Meiners //Right to Be Hostile: Schools, Prisons, and the Making of Public Enemies//. New York: Routledge, 2007.
 * <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Katherine S. Newman et al. //Rampage: The Social Roots of School Shootings//. New York: Basic Books, 2004.
 * <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Jamin B. Raskin //We the Students: Supreme Court Cases for and About Students//. Washington, DC: CQ, 2003.
 * <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Charles Russo et al. //The Educational Rights of Students: International Perspectives on Demystifying the Legal Issues//. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2006.
 * <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Winn Schwartau //Internet & Computer Ethics for Kids (and Parents & Teachers Who Haven't Got a Clue//). Seminole, FL: Interpact, 2001.
 * <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">James T. Sears, ed. //Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Issues in Education: Programs, Policies, and Practice//. New York: Harrington Park, 2005.
 * <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Russell J. Skiba and Gil G. Noam //Zero Tolerance: Can Suspension and Expulsion Keep Schools Safe?//San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2002.
 * <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Harvey Silverglate and Josh Gewolb //FIRE's Guide to Due Process and Fair Procedure on Campus//. Philadelphia: Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, 2004.
 * <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">May Taylor and Ethel Quayle //Child Pornography: An Internet Crime//. New York: Brunner-Routledge, 2003.
 * <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">R. Murray Thomas //God in the Classroom: Religion and America's Public Schools//. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2007.
 * <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Dick Thornburgh and Herbert S. Lin, eds. //Youth, Pornography, and the Internet//. Washington, DC: National Academy, 2002.
 * <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Nancy E. Willard //Computer Ethics, Etiquette, and Safety for the 21st-Century Student//. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education, 2002.
 * <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Associated Press "School Cell Phone Ban Causes Uproar," May 12, 2006.
 * <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Andy Carvin "New Federal Legislation Would Ban Online Social Networks in Schools & Libraries," PBS Teachers learning.now, May 11, 2006. www.pbs.org.
 * <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Michael Fitzpatrick "Deleting Online Predators Act of 2006," H.R. 5319, May 9, 2006. www.govtrack.us.
 * <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Forsite Group "MySpace: Safeguard Your Students, Protect Your Network," 8e6 Technologies, 2006. www.8e6.com.
 * <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Declan McCullagh "Lawmakers Take Aim at Social-Networking Sites," CNET News.com, May 10, 2006.
 * <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Samuel C. McQuade III "We Must Educate Young People About Cybercrime Before They Start College,"//Chronicle of Higher Education//, January 5, 2007.
 * <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">National School Boards Association //Leadership Insider//, August 2006. www.nsba.org.
 * <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">National Public Radio "How Far Should Schools Go to Fight Obesity?" //Talk of the Nation//, April 24, 2007. www.npr.org.
 * <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">National School Safety and Security Services "School Safety Issues Related to the Terrorist Attacks on the United States," 2007. www.schoolsecurity.org.
 * <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Kevin Poulsen "Scenes from the MySpace Backlash," //Wired//, February 27, 2006.
 * <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Julie Sturgeon "Bullies in Cyberspace," //District Administration//, September 2006.

**<span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Full Text: **<span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning.

**<span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Source Citation **

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 8.5pt;">Weingarten, R. (2008). Cell Phones Should Not Be Banned in Schools. In J. Carroll (Ed.), //Opposing Viewpoints//. //School Policies//. Detroit: Greenhaven Press. (Reprinted from affidavit on behalf of United Federation of Teachers, Camella Price et al. v. New York City Board of Education et al., 2006, Supreme Court of the State of New York) Retrieved from http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/ViewpointsDetailsPage/ViewpointsDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&prodId=OVIC&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&display-query=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Viewpoints&dviSelectedPage=&limiter=&currPage=&disableHighlighting=&displayGroups=&sortBy=&zid=&search_within_results=&p=OVIC&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CEJ3010509225&source=Bookmark&u=971hctnet&jsid=c5ace61837f6c064677faaf36666e010