Silent Cell Phone Ringers

Posted by Barbara Pytel Jul 5, 2006

Cheating

A professional cheater recently came forward and confessed to cheating on the SAT tests. Not for himself. He is a hired cheater. Other creative students cheat by turning off the ringer and having their cell phone give answers to friends on their cell phones right in a classroom by instant text messaging. Or, they can photograph the test for a friend who will be taking the test later in the day. No hard copy of the test was stolen but yet the test is being given away.

Harassment

Students may also use cell phones to harass other students right under the noses of their teachers. These phones are taking pictures in bathrooms and locker rooms. How can students get away from bullies, when they call on the cellphone anywhere, anytime and photograph them?

My Space

A very alarming development is students getting on My Space.com during school computer time to check personal emails. Students are to be working on a project but choose to communicate with friends. Sometimes these "friends" are sexual predators pretending to be teenagers. Teachers can not monitor every student every minute and students could be calling a predator during school hours.

Distraction

Teachers complain that students are chatting with friends instead of taking notes, doing homework and paying attention to instructions. New York City has banned cell phones from the schools for these reasons.

The Latest

As if this was not enough, I recently heard on television that someone has invented a silent ringer that children can hear but adults can't. As people get older, they can no longer hear certain decible levels. Scientists have discovered what levels are not heard by adults and developed cellphone ringers that do not bother the adults but children can hear. Great. Now it is even easier for students to use cellphones in the classroom.

While cellphones are a great safety tool, perhaps they should be left in the lockers during school time. Parents are not usually aware of the misuse of cellphones at school.

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