Classroom Management: Cell Phones and Students

The article I read was about the presence of cell phones in the classroom. And, while it points out many things that I would have generally assumed already (by being in the classroom and currently being a student myself), it also pointed out a few interesting ideas that I hadn't thought of before.

First was the disconnect between school rules and individual classroom rules. As can be imagined, each classroom interprets the school wide rules differently. And in some cases, individual classrooms do not follow the school rules at all. Most teachers and students find the school rules to be too strict. In this certain school, teachers are supposed to take students phones when they see them and take them to the office. All of the teachers in the study reported having a problem with that policy and not enforcing it to that extent. Out of the three teachers they spoke to, only one teacher took it so far as to take the phones from the students. In his classroom, if he sees a cell phone, it is taken away until the end of the period, no questions asked. The other two teachers were more lenient  to where they rarely took phones, but asked that phone use was kept to a minimum and only used during work time and especially not when students were supposed to be paying attention to each other or the teacher. The second two teachers had apprehension when it came to taking students phones, their reasoning being that it is something they (or, more likely, their parents) are paying for.

When teachers adapt their own rules to the school rules, this can be confusing for students. It also seems to undermine the authority of the administration overall on the issue. Though, if it's something that most teachers do not feel comfortable with, maybe the rules are worth reconsidering?

Second, students appear to adopt their own rules about using cellphones in the classroom. Most students tend to apply the same rules of etiquette when speaking to a person face to face to their texting habits in the classroom. They noted that if you were talking to someone and having a conversation, you wouldn't pull out your phone and ignore them to start texting. The same seems to go for in the classroom. Most students agreed that it was rude to text while a teacher was lecturing or speaking directly to them. And, beyond that, they also mentioned that when they are texting, its typically not anything terribly important and is not overly distracting from the task at hand. They say it would be similar to passing a note in class or even just a quick comment here and there, which happens in classrooms all the time. So, to some degree, students also have a system of rules for themselves that they abide by when using cell phones in the classroom.

I lean towards the more lenient attitude when it comes to cell phones. If someone is presenting or lecturing, it is important to be respectful. But, as long as it does not become a major distraction, I wouldn't see myself taking a cell phone from a student.