Posted on 09/12/2006 4:39:51 AM PDT by ShadowDancer
I got in a tiff the other day with a FReeper that is SURE that Western Civilization Itself will fall apart if he isn't allowed to use his cell phone while driving.
Worst case of megalomania I have seen since Will Pitt.
And you call yourself "GovernmentShrinker?" (hint - cell phones are expensive private property)
...oh I forgot to mention--the principal isn't in a whole lot of hurry to return cell phones. In fact, he only schedules 1 "cell-phone" meeting a day, in the morning, from 7:00 to 7:10 am. If there is a big back up of phones, it's tough, because the kid has to wait until his turn comes up. Some kids wait over a week to get the phone back--rough ol' world.
I do agree that the kids should not have their phones on during class. But, holding them for ransom doesn't sound like a smart idea, and one that would cause too much controversy.
A lot of kids don't have their own jobs nowadays, and the money would then have to come out of the parent's pockets. What if the kid spends his lunch money to retrieve the phone. The other thing I'm thinking is that God forbid some kid came across trouble and their phone was sitting in some office at school I'd be a pretty upset parent.
I do understand about kids needing consequences, but I don't know if the fine thing is a good idea... Maybe it's just cause I was really poor in HS, then again I probably wouldn't have had a phone in the first place! LOL
Yes, I'm very much a GovernmentShrinker. If it were up to me, there would be no such thing as a public school. But that seems to be out of my hands, and at the moment we're talking about MY tax dollars and YOUR tax dollars which are being spent to the operate the abominable public skools. Those dollars are not "private property" after they've been confiscated from us by the government.
No one is forcing these kids to bring their phones to school (unless their parents are, and no one is forcing the parents to force their kids to bring phones to school). They have been offered a no-cost way to hang on to their phones, but it seems that quite a few of them would prefer to steal educational opportunities from their classmates and from the taxpayers who have been forced to finance these opportunities, than to turn their cell phone ringers off during class.
They just CAN'T remember? Hah! Try my method and after a few kids have been relieved of their phones and had to explain to mommy or daddy who paid for the phone why they couldn't turn the ringer off during class, all the rest of the kids will miraculously discover how to remember to turn off their ringers during class. Right now, they just don't WANT to remember. As soon as not remembering becomes synonymous with not having a cell phone while most of your peers have them, they will WANT to remember.
Of course, an alternative method that's worth trying first, is to refuse to give the phones back the KIDS. For first offenses, tell the kids their parents can come pick the phones up from the principal's office anytime during school hours. There won't be a lot of second offenses, and if the second offense policy is that the phone doesn't get returned at all, third offenses will be very rare indeed. In nearly every case, the parents have paid for the phone and have financial responsibility for the service account, so it's THEIR property, and they are legally responsible for how it's used.
Well here we're in agreement. But
Try my method and after a few kids have been relieved of their phones and had to explain to mommy or daddy who paid for the phone why they couldn't turn the ringer off during class, all the rest of the kids will miraculously discover how to remember to turn off their ringers during class. Right now, they just don't WANT to remember
It's one thing to forget, and it's another to try to have a conversation. Kids are malicious enough to set up a home computer to dial all of their classmates phones in the middle of class every day just to catch someone who forgets. In any event the punishment should eb the same as for talking in class or other disruptive behavior, not stealing even more from the kids' parents (who also pay taxes unless the parents ar illegal immigrants)
Someone call the ACLU. Whoever confiscates someone's phone should be shot.
Hey, the man's a principal and he be smattah than you be.
Slide back open, remove battery.
Yes.
I've nearly been taken out several times by drivers blowing off stop signs whilst talking, and I'm not talking about rolling through them, either. The only thing that may end for that guy is his life. Western Civ will go on without him and his cell phone.
I recall some time ago, a FReeper said he was helping clean up a nasty accident and when they moved the driver's body, a cell phone fell out of his charred hand.
Ahhhh. The latest controversy in the government high schools. I guess we can all be relieved that the 30% dropout rate isn't the big problem being addressed. We wouldn't want that to detract attention from the more pressing problem of cell phone abuse in classes.
(/s)
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