The wonderful school board of Ascension Parish has done everything in it's power to ensure the safety and well-being of it's students; many of the policies that they have passed over the years have definitely protected hundreds of students. However, they have one policy in place that is doing way more harm to the student body than it is doing good- the contra-ban on cell-phones. It is one thing to disallow students to text or play games in the middle of instruction, but to confiscate a device that connects children to parents, students to employers, friends to friends, and the vulnerable to emergency aide is an entirely different story.
Cell-phones are often how parents are re-assured of their children's safety, how they are informed of the student's location, and are often a child's salvation in an emergency situation. Yes, schools are equipped with classroom and office phones, but this system has a few very dextremental flaws: schools in this Parish are often packed with more than a thousand, if not two thousand, students per campus. Should a dire emergency arise, it is costfully time-consuming and inefficient to contact two-thousand parents on less than thirty phones, not to mention that many of the parent's cell-phone and work numbers are attached to a contact list on the phone, along with any emergency contact other than the parents, or that some parents may not answer a call immediately unless a loved one's name appears on a caller I.D.
Regulations would be implemented for these cell-phones, just as they are implemented for the internet. Students would, of course, be asked to put away the cellphones during class and only use them when appropriate, and would definitely have to power them off during formal assessments.
{ Then again, cell phones might actually have a place in the classroom. Is it not much less distracting for a student to text a student than for the student to yell across the class to the student? Imagine how many more homework assignments would be turned in if students could text their peers between class to ask for reminders on what the assignment is. On a more complex level, cell phones could actually be implemented into instruction. In mathematics and English courses, students are often asked to survey other students for statistics and analysis. The process could go so much smoother if students could simply text their peers the questions (I imagine a scenario where a teacher would ask another teacher's permission for their students to exchange data on a particular day during class, and that the teacher will allow his class to answer the question for a brief period of time). Cellphones could be used for cheating, but students have always found a way to cheat, with or without cell-phones, and the benefits of cell-phones far outweigh the risk. }
{Even if cell-phones never make their way into the curriculum, they still should have a place on or close to a student's person.} Some students are in the position where they need to go to a place of employment after school, and they need a cell-phone to check in with their parents or possibly get in touch with their employer if something where to hold the student back a few minutes, such as traffic (a job may be considered a luxury to some students, but, to others, it's the only way they have food on the table, and a cell-phone may be the device that keeps their phone in tact). Some schools have implement a regulation that allows a student to keep a cell-phone in their vehicle, but not all students have the luxury of owing an automobile and may rely on their own two feet to get to work or home. Also, if an emergency happens on the parent's end of the spectrum, and they need to contact their child, a cell-phone would be less distracting to the classroom instruction than a phone call to the office, which would result in an announcement on a teacher's P.A. system. For example, if Jane Doe's house were to catch on fire (unlikely, yes, but so is a school catching on fire, and preparations are in place for that occurrence) and Jane Doe needed to travel to a friend's house or a relative's house instead of their own, a quick text-message could more easily resolve the issue than the conventionally method of getting in touch with a student.
Typically, when cell-phones are mentioned, high school students come to mind, though elementary and middle school students could benefit as well. There is the obvious reasons listed above of parents being able to get in touch with their young children during the school day. "Would younger children be mature enough to handle cell-phones at school?", many would wonder. They say that habits start early; what a great opportunity this would be to teach young children valuable lessons about impulse control and learning the appropriate times to use a cellphone. Instructors could use these devices to teach children about responsibility, as well as safety precautions, such as "Now, remember, class: don't answer the phone unless you know the number that's calling you." Children often despise math and memorizing, but perhaps cell-phone numbers could be used to teach both mathematics and memory tricks. {As above, even if cellphones never make their way into the curriculum, they are still too valuable to not be allowed on a student's person.}
Some may argue that allowing cell-phones would be unfair to students who do not have one. Many students do not have such advantages such as a vehicle or extra money for extracurricular activates, but these things are allowed to persist in the educational world, since the benefit far outweighs the risk. In fact, children without cell-phones (which is the extremely small minority, due to how beneficial and necessary these devices are) would benefit from this policy; they could always use a peers, which would be much easier than leaving class to run to the office.
Cell-phones are more than just a distraction to instruction; they are a connection, a safety precaution, a valuable instrument, and often a life-line. It would be in the best interest of everyone involved in the Ascension Parish School System for the possession of cell-phones to be allowed in school. Much less class-time and administration effort would be spent on something as silly as confiscating cellphones- such valuable time and energy that could be better spent on instruction and making school a better place for students. Please, support the allowal of the possession of cellphones on a student's person at school and support safety, efficiency, and success.
