Cell Phones - It’s a New World Out There

Dear Parents:
Appropriate use of your child’s cell phone is an important issue. The cell phone policy of Stow-Munroe Falls High School is: “Cell phone use is not permitted during the school day.”

Please note the reasons for this policy as listed below:

Safety and security of your child is our priority. Yet cell phones can block that security. According to our School Resource Officer, Barry Smith, the following issues arise when hundreds of cell phones are in use, especially during a crisis situation:

• Detract from school safety and crisis preparedness
• Overload of the cell system during a crisis will shut the system down, rendering it useless during its time of greatest need

Other Safety Concerns:
• Direct connection to drug and gang activity
• Direct link to cyber bullying
• Cell phones have been used to call in bomb threats
• Use of cell phones during bomb threats pose a greater risk for potentially detonating the device

Cell phone use interferes with instructional time:
• Students place calls and text-message during class.
• Cheating through texting and picture taking is common.
• Students use texting, telephoning and picture-taking to cyber-bully.
• At SMFHS last year, there were 60 reports of cell phone related bullying handled by Officer Smith.
• Rumors are started via cell phone, decreasing attendance, due to fears of rumored violence. Text messages can create more anxiety and panic among students than the actual incidents would have caused.

Miscellaneous Information:
• New York, Boston, Detroit, and Los Angeles school districts have banned the use of cell phones in their schools.
• A 2002 national survey found that 81% of School Resource Officers surveyed said that their schools have prohibited the use of cell phones in their schools.
• Students have been known to photograph tests and sell them to other students.
• Cell phone are one of the most-often stolen items in schools.

(Information from www.schoolsecurity.org and www.thisweek-online.com/2007/March/30)

Parents like the convenience of being able to contact their student on their cell phone. The administration of Stow-Munroe Falls High School asks that parents do not call their child on their cell phones during the school day. Students are not permitted to take these calls. If it is necessary to contact your child, please contact the Attendance Office at 330.689.5300 or 330.689.5222 and a message will be taken to them.

Consequences of Cell Phone Use: As stated above, this is an area of great concern here at the high school. The cell phone policy of the district is clearly stated in the code of conduct.

• First Offense will result in confiscation of the phone and a 4-hour Saturday school detention. The phone will be returned only to a parent between 2:30 and 3:00 in the main office.

• Second Offense will result in confiscation of the phone and a one-day out-of-school suspension. The phone will be returned only to a parent between 2:30 and 3:00 in the Main Office.

Page posted 8/21/2008

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