Should We Allow Cell Phones in Our Schools?

Gloria emphatically told me that kids should not be allowed to have cell phones in school. She gave examples of schools that had already eliminated cell phone use anywhere on school grounds. She told me what a major difference this made at one school. At lunch, the cafeteria was buzzing with chatter and laughter for the first time in years. When they were allowed to have phones, everybody was buried in them. There was no interaction.

Then Gloria talked about the inadequacies in our education system. She started getting too deep for me, so I excused myself. I had never given the idea of cell phones in school much thought. But now, the more I think about it, the more uncertain I am about my own position on the matter.

When I was in grade school, candy bars still cost a nickel. Gas was nineteen cents a gallon. There was no internet. There were no cell phones. Notepads were pages of lined paper. The word “laptop” had yet to be coined. So, as we sat through our school days, we were isolated in that classroom. We couldn’t send a text to the girl in the back row. We had to scribble a note on paper. We had no way to call home. If we felt sick, we would go to the nurse’s office and either she or someone in the Principal’s Office would call home to reach a parent.

Much has changed. When I was in school there were no school shootings. We didn’t have anything like an Amber Alert. Those began in 1996. Kids were not abducted. I could walk to the main road and hitch-hike the four miles to town whenever I wanted. It was safe. No one was concerned. It was a different time.

Since my talk with Gloria, I’ve asked many people what they think. Everybody seems to have an opinion–and they differ greatly. Some say if we get our schools properly secured, the kids would not be faced with emergencies where they’d need a phone. At least most people believe we must secure our schools, though how we get that done is another controversial topic. Lots of people came up with “what if’s.” What if the teacher is out of the classroom and something happens–some emergency?

I would love to find a consensus. What do you think about cell phones in our schools?