by Jen Hudson

Created on: March 01, 2009

In one classroom, a student texts an answer to a standardized test. Across the hall, another student receives a threatening text from a former friend. During a test, a parent calls a student, wondering why they aren't texting them back with their plans for the evening. Yet another girl snaps a sexy photo of herself to text to friends. Cell phones are not just used for emergency phone calls anymore, and are more than mere distractions in schools. Many schools have banned cellular devices, but with phones smaller than credit cards slipping in and out of pockets and hoodies, this rule is hard to enforce and has major disadvantages when broken.

Cheating

One of the major offenses of cell phone use in schools is cheating. Since most phones are now equipped with texting capabilities, a response to a test question is just a quick text away. While most adults marvel at the speed of a texting teenager's thumbs on a keypad, many students can text from their pockets or purses while looking a teacher straight in the eye. The ease of this technology for students raised at the computer has caused an academic quandary that can only be addressed when it is noticed. Unfortunately, many students are able to text constantly in class without a glance from their unknowing instructors.

Bullying

Whether or not the phone is used during instructional time, bullying via text messages is immediate and frightening. Gossip and name calling can be rapidly transmitted to dozens using text. Embarrassing photo messages are also cause for alarm. Several cases of cyber or text bullying have made international attention, including the recent suicide of a Melbourne, Australia boy who was being bullied via text. Old-fashioned face-to-face bullying or verbal harassment is not a thing of the past, but harassment over text messages adds another vehicle that can not only hinder education during the school day but also end with fatal results.

Parents

Calls and texts from other students are not the only problems. Frequently, parents use their child's cell phone as an easy way to get a hold of them during the school day. Texting, although banned in most schools, is commonplace between many parents and their teens. When a text is left unanswered, the phone calls often start, causing a student needless distraction. Administrators and teachers are left out of the loop in emergencies, although many texts from parents are things that can wait until after school. Calling the office to leave a child a needed message

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