Should Children Have Cell Phones at School?

- Cheating: There have been issues in schools where students are using their cell phones to cheat. They can take a picture of the test and send it to others. They can text message others outside of class for answers to questions. They can save documents on their phones to bring up during class. They can use the Internet on their phone to look up answers themselves.

- Photos and Video: They could easily record a video of the teacher or take inappropriate pictures of others and spread them around to others.

- Distraction: They can be easily distracted by using their cell phones while they should be paying attention in class. They could also send text messages to others also in class and distract them. If their cell phone rings in class, it could be very distracting to others.

This is where the grey comes in. I think teachers should allow students to bring and use their cell phones in class if it pertains to something being taught. This would mean that teachers would have to set clear expectations and rules for cell phone use and consequences for those who break those rules. I think this also means that teachers would have to let students know ahead of time to bring their cell phones to class. Here are a few things teachers could do with cell phones:

- They could ask students to text people that they know and ask them a polling question about a topic talked about in class (example: Do you think cell phones should be allowed in schools? Text me back ASAP with yes or no)

- A story created and added to my students: The teacher can start a story using a story starter and text it to a student. That student then adds one sentence to the story and texts it to another student who adds a sentence and so on.

- Students could also take pictures of things they do in class and compile a photo slideshow detailing the events.

Cell phones could be great educational tools for students and to deny them of this would be wrong. That is why I voted yes to allow...