Scott McLeod has written a good post on the ridiculous idea some schools have about purchasing technology that would allow them to jam cellphone transmissions from students. He invited readers to share their thoughts about student cellphone usage.

I’ve written about this before, but I thought I’d share the comment I left on his post:

“Jeez, talking about overkill!

I’ve posted about why I support our school’s banning the use of cellphones during school hours (not banning bringing them to school, though). Our large inner-city school’s ban on cellphones (and iPods), I believe, has contributed positively to improving our school climate. It has reduced the likelihood of students using them to organize and/or escalate fights, and has helped eliminate yet one more tempting distraction from our students already chaotic lives.

If a student has a cellphone out between classes, a monitor confiscates it until the end of school. If a student has it out during class, a teacher can do the same, but usually only keeps it until the end of class.

However, confiscations really don’t seem to happen that much — students generally respect the rule. We have what I would call a very “relational” discipline system at our school. Explaining, and reminding, students why we have the ban in place generally makes sense to them. And those times include hearing their feedback. Of course, these conversations are done in the context of a strong teacher/student relationships, which are also emphasized heavily at our school.

Umm, building relationships…That might be an idea schools could consider before they buy high-tech devices that students will figure out a way around anyway.”

You might also be interested in visiting the post I wrote about our iPod ban, too.

All feedback is welcome!