Case
Cell phones aren't allowed so why do you have one?

As a school rule, cell phones aren't allowed, yet I had a student who constantly had one and was on it. One day I took it away from him since there was the school rule that students are not allowed to have them and administration informed us that, that was what we were suppose to do. The cell phone became such a distraction that I ended up writing the student up for having it. This is when administration finally told me how the student had to have the cell phone on him since there was some issues with his parents in the past so he needed it to keep in contact with them. To the administration there was papers on file about how no matter what he needed to have it on him. I can understand the story and reason for this fifth grader to have his phone. That wasnt the issue. The issue was the fact that he kept talking on it and it became a disruption in class. Administration did not care and only told me that he had to have it and that I couldnt take it away. What can be done? I feel like my hands are tied behind my back yet I cant just sit there and let him disrupt my class with this phone.

Posted on: 02/18/13 | Views: 1218
Solution #1
In a case like this, I would speak directly to the parents and describe the problem that having the cell phone is causing in your classroom, since they are the ones that demand the student to have it on his/her person. I would ask them to reconsider contacting you, the teacher, directly through the classroom phone or your personal cell phone should an emergency arise, rather than making the student keep the phone. This way maybe you could take the phone from the student at the beginning of class and give it back to the student once class time is over to minimize classroom disruptions.

I believe contacting the teacher is the best way around this situation. I can understand if the parents feel intimidated, but explaining to the parents that the phone has become a distraction in the classroom should help them understand why things need to change. I would even go as far as suggesting the parents to contact the school if the situation is indeed dire. That way if the student needs to be pulled out of class for an emergency the school will know about it and make the situation go much quicker.

Communication between you and the parents are important for this reason.

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Solution #2
A possible solution may be to speak with administration and ask them if you can hold the phone for him while he is in class. If the phone should ring or receive a text message, you can immediately give it back to him in case its an emergency or his parents. This will at least prevent unnecessary usage and will lead to only minimal disruptions.

This may be a situation were you can allow the student to leave the ringer on and maybe have the student pick a ring tone that is the least disruptive. Then if the phone should go off then they may step outside or go to the back of the class to address the problem. This way the phone should be put away at all times until it goes off. You can also let the class know that this student has permission from administration to have phone and that if it goes off they need to stay on task.

Great suggestion. Unless the phone rings there should be no reason he should be on it.

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Solution #3
I would suggest that the teacher have a conference with the parents and discuss the cell phone. The parents do not have to go into detail about their family issues, but they should be able to reach a compromise with the teacher. The compromise could be keeping the phone on vibrate, instead of letting it ring. The parents should only let the child use the phone to contact them, not to play around. A possibility would be to get one of those phones that has a button to call mom and a button to call dad. There is not much else you can do with the phone, so it would not be distracting. The teacher should also talk to the student about his disruptive behavior and reward him when he does not use his phone for a non-emergency. The teacher should explain to the class that the phone is not an excuse for everyone to become distracted. They must learn to remain focused.
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Solution #4
I would talk to the administration about the student disrupting the class and see if they could help with the situation. If that does not work I would try to talk to the parents. I would want to make sure the student was actually using the phone to talk to the parents and not using it for other reasons.

I agree with this solution, maybe you could even set up something with the parents to have the line to the school. Classroom even if possible. That way the student doesn't have it for any social reasons and cannot misuse it. Allow the student to have it in between class time or while walking between activities. That way the student can check texts from parents for less important things while they can call the school for emergencies.

I agree with this solution. I would check with the parents after talking to the administration just to make sure he isn't using it for other purposes during class.

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Solution #5
If possible could you state the reason he is allowed to have his phone? I am interested to know what would warrant allowing a student to have a personal cell phone. I understand privacy issues but thought since there are no names of students or schools mentioned you might be able to share.
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Solution #6
I would allow him to have his phone but if he was on it for unnecessary reasons, there would be consequences. The phone would be allowed for emergencies only.
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