Would it be legal if a teacher had a basket on his/her desk

[SoCalDem]

and demanded that kids turn off their phones and place them in the basket during class?

It seems to me that this would be a better plan, and might be accepted by kids as well, since the phones would be given back when class was over.

I can understand that a phone might be necessary in case of an emergency, but do students have the right to walk around totally oblivious to the purpose of school??

[jeff47]

1. Depends on the district.

In the district where my sister teaches, the kids are allowed to have their phone but only if they use it to further an educational purpose. For example, googling something or looking at a homework assignment.

She has a box labeled "iJail". If she catches a kid using their phone for any other purpose, it goes in the box until after class.

[hollysmom]

2. 30 years ago, my B-I-L used to take kids cigarettes as ransom to loan them pencils,

they never seemed to have pencils to take notes or what ever, loose paper he felt was something he had to give them, so he paid for it, since the school was very bad on supplies.
He would return it when they gave the pencil back.

[KamaAina]

3. I'm sure it would be legal

but as mentioned above, might run afoul of district policy.

[sharp_stick]

4. This teacher

uses a cell phone storage thing as an attendance marker.

[SoCalDem]

5. That's an even better idea

[alphafemale]

16. Would be better if it were not see through.

Then it is not glaringly obvious who has a cheaper/older vs newer/more expensive phone.

[Fla_Democrat]

19. Saw this the other day......

[valerief]

6. Are there signal jammers that would work? That way the kids keep the phones.

They just don't work in the classroom.

[Igel]

7. Last I checked they were illegal in the US.

Used in other countries in places like restaurants or movie theatres, and posted. But here it's a federal offense (at least 3 years ago).

[valerief]

13. Guns in school are okay, but signal jammers aren't. That America for you. nt

[NYC Liberal]

17. Hey, you need the cell phones to call 911 when the next gun nut goes on a rampage.

[valerief]

18. They have land lines in schools. Besides, isn't that what the violent cops in schools

are for?

[NYC Liberal]

20. Just being a little tongue-in-cheek. But yes, the Rambo wannabes would love

to have a shoot out, no doubt.

[jmowreader]

8. The kids would go apeshit

There are plenty of mobile-enabled websites the kids are using to look up answers to test questions. Go to the Science categories on WikiAnswers and you'll see plenty of "which of the five elements in Table A weighs x grams per mole?" questions. Take away Junior's phone and he might actually have to learn something.

[Brickbat]

9. "Do students have the right to walk around totally oblivious to the purpose of school?"

Better make sure they don't socialize at all, then; that's what they're doing on those phones.

[SoCalDem]

10. During class, they should be learning..Socializing is fine when they are NOT in class

This cell phone addiction thing is getting out of hand..

[mcar]

11. That's what many teachers in our district do

[Township75]

12. What does the teacher do if a student does not comply?

[Bucky]

15. I call the parents of my 10th graders over and over till they take their cellphones away

It's a losing battle, of course. That's time I could spend grading or planning instead. The job is definitely getting harder.

[Bucky]

14. Real teacher here: most of my colleagues gave up years ago trying to stop cell phones in class

There's actually some on-line stuff that you can do to get kids engaged by using their cell phones. It's substandard education, but we're trying to hold back a flood of stupid these days. Any gimmick that works is welcome.