Should Cell Phones Be Banned From Public Schools?

As I was reading the paper this morning, I stumbled upon a piece that concerns the Caddo Parish School Board.

It is an article that reports that the local School Board is thinking of proposing a ban on students having cell phones at school.

There are a myriad of reasons out there both for and against this proposal, however the main reason given by the Board really does bother me.

I do have a 13 year old son in the local school system, and although he does not currently have a cell phone, I really have considered getting him one recently.

But now, our School Board has decided that they do not like the idea of students having cell phones, "After student's cell phone video that showed Huntington High School Principal Jerry Davis and a student in a physical altercation garnered local media attention and subsequently forced the system to place Davis on paid administrative leave."

Now, I am a bit biased on this particular issue, I will admit.

I have a relative that actually attends Huntington High and was there when all of this happened and has had many a story to tell about what actually goes on at that school.

There is a very good and valid reason that so many students thought to try and document what was supposed to be labeled as a normal run of the mill school fight.

I also managed to catch the news bit when that video footage aired on channel 12, and I still cannot believe what was depicted on that child's cell phone's footage.

So, because somebody (and there were many folks actually who were able to capture the fight on film so to say) filmed the altercation, and it portrayed the issue in a less than positive manner than what the School Board would have us believe, all children should be banned from having in their possession a means to contact their parents or help should a need arise?

Yes, in the old days, we used the office phone if we needed to contact our parents in emergency cases.

This was often tedious if there was a real problem such as snow accumulation and ice on the streets forming, or if there was a problem on campus and we needed to leave (yes those types of problems do arise more often than one would think.)

In fact, when I was in High School, I was very glad to have access to the pay phone out by our cafeteria for just such reasons.

Now a days, we as parents have the option and security of being able to provide our children with a constant link to us in case of emergency or need in the form of a cell phone.

We have use of this technology found in cell phones. If our kids are sick and need to call us to come and check them out, they can.

If something happens, God forbid, such as a school shooting, a stabbing incident, or maybe something larger such as an act of terrorism that warrants school letting out on an emergency basis, we can have the luxury and really the peace of mind that a cell phone in our children's possession affords us.

I know that when I was little, my mother often preferred that she come and pick me up in cases of ice on the roads or snow accumulation rather than risk something happening to us while riding home in our school buses that did not have seat belts.

It would have been nice to have had a cell phone in such cases, but alas they were the about the size of a cinder block at this point and were too large for a child to carry.

I also often participated in after school activities where the times would often not be specific as to when to when rehearsal would be over. Such technology would have been helpful then as well.

But, our School Board has decided that because children were able to film a fight on their camera phones that showed a side of school discipline that they did not want portrayed in the media, that we should not have the security and connection to our children and their safety anymore.

Does this not bother you as a parent? I know that I really would prefer that my child be able to call me in cases of any emergency.

I know that this past week at my son's school has been one where many kids just are not attending because of yet another supposed threat that has yet to be contained or the source discovered.

I received one of those we-are-upping-the-security-on-campus-and-within-our-halls letter this past week, again.

Students are frightened. In this day and age, you just never know what might happen at school. It's not the safe place it used to be for our kids (as a generality.)

I know that I want to be connected to my child in just such cases.

The question is, are our School Board members about to pull the plug on our communication with our kids over an incident where students felt it necessary that they document an altercation to avoid possible implication of those non-guilty party's being punished?

There is a precedent within that particular school where children having nothing to do with altercations but being in the general area of them, are being punished and severely so.

Are we as parents going to accept this proposal as necessary on the Board's part, and for the teacher's well being and thus necessary for our children?

Is possession of a cell phone on a child's person at school such a bad thing that it needs to be banned? What are your thoughts on the subject?