Should Kids Have Cell Phones in School?

Should kids be even allowed to bring a phone into the building? If so, should it be allowed with them?

I am curious as to what other people think of this issue. It is presently controversial.

Generally speaking I don't think kids "need" cell phones; for a kid they're generally a luxury rather than a need.

I don't buy the argument that parents need to be able to reach their kids "since 9/11". "9/11" was a once in a lifetime event. Other disasters, natural or man-created can of course happen, but they are rare, too.

However, the argument that pay phones are no longer available is unfortunately valid in most places. I've seen lots of places where pay phones were pulled (like the local public library). School kids tell me they were pulled in school as a result of prank call abuse.

I don't like the idea that middle school age kids are so interdependent on the outside world that they need cells phones to deal with it. Parents should be available for their kids directly, not over the phone; I don't like parents using the phone as a crutch as too many do. Kids tell mom "I'm at the library" when in reality they're somewhere they shouldn't be.

Some companies (including Disney) are advertising GPS/monitoring phones for their kids. I don't like the idea of parents becoming "Big Brother" either, that makes me really uncomfortable. It's like saying to the kids "Oh, we trust you. Well, actually we don't trust you." I was a goody-goody growing up, but I'd resent as hell secret attempts by my parents to monitor my whereabouts. I think the first thing I'd do would be to figure out how to defeat the tracking.

Unfortunately today high school kids have much more adult responsibilities than in our day. Having a cell phone is almost a necessity. High school age kids today work after school. They have varied after school activities. They have no public transit and are dependent on the car. They have split parents who both work.

Any thoughts?

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hancock4
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