<p>Wow. Don’t really know what to say about this. Is the school district serious? I understand and am all for having restrictions on cell phones, but when the kid says “it’s my dad in Iraq” and they have an agreement with the principal, shouldn’t that raise a flag saying “okay, let the kid talk to his dad. it may be their last call.”</p>
<p>I remember my sophomore year in HS, the father of a girl in my class (he was also my GC), was serving his 2nd term in Iraq and she was allowed to excuse herself to answer the phone if he called. When they’re fighting halfway around the world, they can’t afford to wait until a “convenient” time in the states to call. </p>
<p>In all fairness, did the boy just whip out the cell phone, open it up, and start talking into it? If he excused himself before actually opening the phone and taking the call, I see no problem, but if it’s the former case, I can understand. A suspension is, however, far too harsh.</p>
<p>That’s a bad policy, IMO, as a high school student. At my school, the cell phone would’ve been taken and kept in the office until that afternoon, assuming the teacher that saw it is strict. People need a break once in a while, the kid wasn’t calling his girlfriend or texting a friend under his desk.</p>
<p>As a sub who is tired of parents calling their kids in class and actually EXPECTING them to answer, I sympathize with the school. Is there more to the story? Was the young man out of line in his response to the teacher? Was he verbally abusive or insubordinate? Had he been spoken to before about using his cell phone in school? I suspect there may well be more to this than we are being told.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if the case is exactly as the young man says & there are no extenuating circumstances, this does seem unfair.</p>
<p>The school says the matter is resolved - which includes a reprimand on he student’s record. The family is not so much in agreement about the resolution… Sounds like the school’s left hand didn’t know what the right hand was doing and, as is sadly so often the case, administrators reverted to robots rather than people in figuring out what should have happened in this case.</p>
<p>I think the incident occurred a couple of weeks ago Cards. But it is newsworthy if the Copperas Cove ISD has still not cleared the kid’s record.</p>
<p>My understanding is the AP emailed all teachers this student and his brother had permission to take a cell phone call from their father in Iraq. That this teacher apparently ‘did not get the memo’ is an error on the part of the teacher and the school, and not the student. Why it is taking so long for the school to remedy the situation is beyond me.</p>
<p>Regarding appropriate punishment… in our district, if a student is caught on his/her cell phone, the phone is taken up and sent to the Finance Office. A parent has to go to that office and ‘buy’ the phone back by paying a fine. I think it is $15-$20 per incident. I like this punishment…it puts all motivations in the right place. If a kid refuses to honor the policy, he has not only the school to deal with, but his parents. If a parent refuses to motivate their kid to do the right thing, then they can just go broke paying fines. So far, $$ have proven to be very effective motivator though.</p>
<p>Jamming signals is something that bothers me. My husband and his cousin are Columbine H.S. graduates. We are ever mindful that a cell phone is a very useful tool in certain circumstances.</p>
<p>So many of the schools around here have “zero tolerance” policies for all kinds of issues. I think that’s just a gutless way to avoid making decisions.</p>
<p>While I am no fan of Faux News, i am very happy they reported on this situation. While we do not know all the facts, I assume that this was an isolated call and that the student is not getting calls from his dad on a regular basis while at school.</p>
<p>This being the case I find it repugnant that he would be suspended from taking a call from his dad stationed in Iraq. Schools need rules but they also need to be flexible in unique situations like this one.</p>
That is <em>so</em> true. Policy, as a written summary of decisions made by thinking people, serves to provide guidance to the thinking people who come later with the responsibility to respect those decisions as well as the authority to interject their own well-reasoned beliefs. Policy should not serve as a blunt instrument wielded without contemplation.</p>
<p>Why should a call from Iraq be treated any differently than a call from any other dangerous, life-threatening, or critical situation - a call from a hospital about a sick relative, an auto accident involving one’s mother, etc.? In fact, these are likely more critical, and time-dependent.</p>
<p>In the old days, when there was a family emergency the front office was called and student was excused from class.<br>
This is the case of a guy halfway around the world sacrificing himself for our country and he probably isn’t thinking about whether or not his son is in the middle of class. The son should not be punished for this.</p>