Why do kids need cell phones, and should they be allowed in schools?

are they on call for a local hospital?

whether or not their kid should have a cell phone. Yes, they should be allowed at school. As long as they are not using them in class.


I know tons of adults, me included, who have cell phones at work. I am even on my sometimes while at work, and so are a lot of my co-workers.
Are we on call for a local hospital?????

Someone being at work and talking to friends on their cellphone. I don't think it's appropriate at work, just as it is not appropriate in class at school. If someone has voice mail, friends can leave messages that can be checked on breaks, not during working hours.

:hi: Will.

I think ADULTS are more annoying than the kids who might bring a cell phone to school. Let's be fair, and not just criticize the kids, which kind of seemed like what the OP was trying to hint at, although I could be off base here.

time. the phones are confiscated if used during class

there are reasons for a cell phone. both brothers have them for their kids. single parent and at work. they need the ability to touch base. isnt how it is in our house, so i dont have to make a tough choice because personally i have three, four reasons why i say no to kids with cell phones

They walk to and from the bus stop. Playing with friends at the park etc. It's for safety reasons frankly. We respect the school rules, my sons is taken into teacher custody until after school, and my daughter leaves hers in her locker, but if I have to go somewhere and won't be home when they get home, I can text them so they know where I am.
It's about communication for us and security.

:rofl:

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...for emergency reasons.
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And, though children are not as important as those of us
who may have REAL reasons for cellphones, they do like to
keep in sometimes frequent contact with their friends.
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I'm not a very techie person, nor one who insists on the
latest and the greatest... but I have no problem with a
child of ANY age having a cellphone for ANY reason (mainly
because the "emergency" reason is ever-valid).
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My last cellphone was so basic and low-tech that once, when
standing outside a library waiting for it to open, I saw what
appeared to be a 6-year-old bring out the same model. I said,
"I REALLY like your cellphone" and showed him my phone. It
made ME feel good to see a huge grin light up his face.
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Later, I wondered if he had an adult cellphone or if I had a
child's model. I decided (with a little bit of a sigh) that it was
probably the latter. Though it didn't matter.
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I don't know about other providers, but I do know that
Verizon has a $5 monthly feature that allows parents to
block texting and/or calling during school hours and other
controls for kids who may exhibit some phone-addictive
behaviors (I once saw an instance where an 11-year-old
girl had texted 14 THOUSAND times in THREE WEEKS!!!).
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No one can stop it now.

are stored at the beginning of the day and picked up at the end?

That would be a logistical nightmare. It would be nice, but I don't know that it would work in practice.

In case of emergency? you might not like it, but they do have practical uses. I remember a certain day in 2001 as a resident of the DC area where I spent a great deal of time making sure my relatives scattered around the area were okay. And thinking about Virginia Tech also is a good reason.

Phones didn't ring in classrooms.

my kids have been out of school for a couple of years, I wouldn't be the least surprised if they use off shore call centers now

http://www.fcc.gov/eb/Public_Notices/DA-05-1776A1.html

What if somebody had to use a phone in an emergency and the call were blocked thanks to illegal jamming equipment?

The same emergencies that would require adults to have a cell phone. :shrug:

I don't think that emergency situations discriminate due to age...

As for why?

Colombine.

I live in an area where it gets well below zero in the winter and frequent blizzards, a cell phone is pretty necessary for everyone.

As for being allowed in school.....our school lets the kids have the phones, but they will be turned off and put away during school. If the phone rings or someone is caught texting, the phones are taken away and taken to the office, the parents have to come to the school to get the phones back. It works well.

:sarcasm: :sarcasm:

... even in the school! If you needed to call your mom, and tell her you were getting a ride with your friend, so she doesn't need to pick you up after all, all you needed was a dime.

because I sometimes get the sense that I shouldn't even be alive today without them

with a beeper up my ass ( and that is JUST the people who call me regularly ) forget about bill collectors or utility companies...they just CALL you

My mother worked, but as a teacher, she was usually home
about 15 minutes to a half hour after WE walked in the door.

And a LOT happened in 15-30 minutes, believe me!

Today, with both parents working, kids are sometimes
unsupervised or in transit for a couple of HOURS, not
minutes, after school, not to mention throughout the
summer months.

Cell phones are a fabulous way to keep in touch and
in contact.

from my friends land-line when, of course their mom or dad was at work

I'm OK today...what would happen if cell phone service crapped out nationwide? Would most of us remember what the hell to do in such an emergency?

I've been in sales for 35 years, and I used
to live at pay phones.

Somehow, I managed to make a living.

I hate it that people at work and home
expect me to be in CONSTANT AND IMMEDIATE
contact.

But I also don't miss the days when someone
would forget to give me something and I would
have to turn around and drive all the way back...

and I am for all intents and purposes a single mom. I go to frequent medical appointments, and also pick him up at various times after school. We use cell phones to coordinate times and such. I would never call him during class, but text him during his last class period, which is permitted in his school. We're also in the DC area, and I think after 9/11, and the sniper episode a year later, cell phones were sort of seen as a normal thing for students to carry, if used responsibly. Overuse is discouraged, as it should be, but for my son and myself, it's necessary at this point.

Sure, they're convenient but are they really necessary? I'd say in most cases, NO.

And a lot of families had a lot crisises because of it, and modern tech can alleviate some of that burden.

Giving children mobile communication devices is a smart and effective way to track them and connect to them when needed.

Yes, during class time, cell phones must be shut off or confiscated, but at all other times, they can be life savers.

I don't know and no! :)

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How did people get around before the wheel?
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How did people cook their food before fire?
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How did people cure infections before antibiotics?
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How did people get from Virginia to California before airplanes?
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I have a hard time believing some of the comments here are not said REALLY tongue-in-cheek --
like Dana Carvey doing his old man shtick "AND WE LIKED IT"
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Comments like those AFTER the reasonable and only NEEDED reason
of "emergency" (not to mention "Columbine"), not to mention the
small but important reasons of everyday life make me believe
that they're trolling -- that they just could NOT be serious.
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I hope not.
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(edited to stop the bold text where it is instead of to the end -- what I get
for not previewing)
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How did we SURVIVE before "previewing"?
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:thumbsup:

;)

Personally, I would strictly require them to be turned off in class, but I don't think 'need' should be the standard - if people want something, no matter how trivial that 'need' seems to me, they should have it, as long as it doesn't cause a disruption or a hazard....

as to the being allowed in schools, not during classes IMHO

my kids did the vast majority of "school" without them (just not available) but if they were still there, they would have them. We are 20 miles from town and more often the problems were not with THEM being able to reach us, but rather us being able to reach them. Sometimes (too damn often) I would be stuck somewhere with a flat tire or other "emergency" delay. Cell phones would have alleviated a lot of anxiety and extra driving around.

Now they are so handy to summon the slaves, er I mean the boys to come assist in some work-related endeavor.}(

when she was in high school because a friend of mine was date raped and abandoned when we were kids. She walked miles in the dark for help.

Otherwise, while not strictly necessary, the phone was extremely convenient when practices were canceled, matches were rained out, other parents flaked out for rides after the movies, etc. The few times I did have to contact my children through the school day I coordinated through the school office. Cell phones were not allowed during school hours, and my son had his confiscated when he and his idiot friends decided to play phone tag one day.