What is Digg?295 Comments
- zweben, on 10/12/2007, -5/+67Who needs boxcutters? If someone tried to take my iPod, I would bludgeon them with it.
iHurt. - DanniK, on 10/12/2007, -8/+59Why the hell do high schools ban cell phones, or even mp3 players? Sure they shouldn't be used in class, but what if parents want to find out why their kid isn't home 3 hours after school is over?
- aggieandrew, on 10/12/2007, -3/+42Schools in my area allow cell phones, but they must be turned off and not seen during school hours. Only for use before or after school.
No other unapproved electronic devices are allowed (including mp3 players). Besides them interferring with class, the school would have to deal with them getting stolen. If we say they aren't allowed, we don't have to do anything if they are stolen. (i'm a teacher). - SvobodaIT, on 10/12/2007, -4/+33The lame excuse I remember was to "use the phone in the office."
- liquidoc, on 10/12/2007, -5/+23Yes, take all the little kiddie's cell phones and mp3 players, because THAT's the real problem with schools. How's about starting with parents getting more involved in their kid's lives instead of being coked out or paying attention to the freaking tv, and then we can move on to why Jimmy's cell phone is causing a disruption in class. (HINT: it's because his cracked out mom was looking for a fix at noon.)
- jerb, on 10/12/2007, -4/+22"There's no reason for cell phones, mp3 players or other crap like that at school.
Kids did fine before the invention of the cell phone. If needed there's always a payphone in every public school I've ever been in."
However because of the percentage of students who have cellphones many schools are removing the payphones as they are no longer profitable. - plamoni, on 10/12/2007, -1/+18That would be the 4th amendment, actually.
The 5th amendment protects against self-incrimination - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+20Is it so wrong to want to listen to some music on the walk to school...
I don't blame the kids for taking mobiles and MP3 players to school, I don't see why it's such a big deal that they have to ban them, perform searches, and confiscate them, then have a news story about it? - allthewhile, on 10/12/2007, -8/+24Cell phones create FAR more trouble for the schools than is necessary. Stolen phones, students texting during class, arguments over WHO owns the phone, parents getting involved often create such a hassle for teachers and administrators that certain schools find it necessary to ban them outright. Many students simply don't have the ability to not play with them during innapropriate times.
- emil1212, on 10/12/2007, -2/+18If they warned everyone, then they weren't "random" searches.
- donatj, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14Heh, I remember in Jr. High my school had a ban on "Calculator games" wtf is that? They'd go around and check all our calculators for games, jesus christ. Highschool though we had cell phones, mp3 players, cd players, etc and it was never an issue, I had no idea there were school that had issue with it, Half the class listened to cd players durring work times.
- kolop1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13 I remember having a discman in high school. ( 10 years ago) Everyone had a discman or a Walkman. I don't see how bringing this to school makes kids bad. If it disrupts the class then take it from the child who is disrupting the class. Why punish everyone one because of a few people. Keep it turned off while you are in school, if not you get in trouble.
- aggieandrew, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13let me clearify that. We don't have to INVESTIGATE the thefts, though the school would obviously do something if the theft was witnessed.
- vatechtigger, on 10/12/2007, -3/+15dumb-ass should have turned his phone off in school. He might have not missed the lesson on the constitution
- tapo, on 10/12/2007, -3/+14When I go to school, there are two things in my pocket.
My cellphone
My iPod
Neither of these things I use in class. If I need a ride or something, I'll call someone when I get out of school. Hell, thanks to having his cell phone with him, my brother was able to call 911 and stop an assault on his way home.
My iPod I use because it takes be about 45 minutes-an hour to get home, and I'd really like something to do during that time. So I listen to podcasts, come home, plug it into my iPod Dock and keep listening while I make myself something to eat.
If they banned either of those things, I'd go crazy. - Nicholutso, on 10/12/2007, -5/+15Hey guys,
To every high school student out there... Fight it, but not too hard. The whole "spoons in your pocket" idea has merit cause it's funny and harmless. I went through the same thing when they instituted the moment of silence at my school in the morning. OMG what a horrible idea. A moment of silence to show respect for what? God? My country? My administrators and teachers? The idea will die out, but schools will still be horrible places for learning. Teachers who think professional development is being PC by calling you, "african american" instead of negro will still rule the day.
I think I'm a pretty exceptional case, but I'll tell you how things went for me. I went to a magnet school for science and technology. I loved to learn because my parents were excellent teachers. I hated school because none of my teachers at school cared as much as my parents did. They didn't want to answer my questions. They had their own curricular agenda. They didn't care whether I actually learned anything. I didn't have any study skills, and I wasn't ready for the work load of an intense college level curriculum.
I pretty nearly flunked out of a magnet school where they supposedly hire the best teachers. When I was 18 I moved to the college town where my brother lived and we got an apartment together. I tried going to community college, but it was the same thing and I still didn't have any study skills, but I'd been doing independant work on building computer skills, designing little games in flash, learning as much as I could about computers and web design and the basics of computer science. You can easily teach these things to yourself. The problem is, no one is going to hire you in the computer field without a college degree in CS. Soo.... my brother got me a job at a computer company he used to work for. I still don't have any study skills, but I know PHP, Java, html, xml, javascript, actionscript flash, photoshop, and many other skills, applications, and languages inside out... in just a year. Motivation was key. I loved doing it and I could do it myself. You can even pick up the theory from books online. Check out the digg link to 195 resources for programming books.
My parents were both school teachers. To become a school teacher for their generation was to step above the poverty line. Just as our students have changing ideas about education, so do our teachers. Becoming a teacher now seems mostly a last resort for college students who don't know what else to do with their lives. My parents both came from immigrant families and they were both intelligent people who worked hard.
What I learned in school is that if you want to get ahead... take the 50/50 chance that following the rules and doing what you're told will get you noticed and you might, if you're lucky, learn something, but in the real world you can learn most everything you need from google. Nepotism and networking are how 70% of people get hired. Make sure you have friends in high places. Keeping your head down is still key, just as it is in school. Don't lose the independant hard working free spirit that keeps you motivated to learn, but don't be a dumbass and get singled out by your parents, teachers, or administrators (or your boss). Their respect is the only way to get help or get your questions answered, to get into college, or to be treated fairly... At least untill they put videos on how to write a college essay on google video, or youtube. Their recommendations are still the only way to get ahead. - vypergts, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9I don't object to the school banning the devices but I object to wasting public funds on having police search students and confiscate them. It's one thing to remove weapons from kids but removing personal property that is only posing a distration threat instead of a physical one is going too far.
What's to stop a movie theater from hiring security to do the same thing? - amster0912, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10"A new program to search school students didn't turn up many weapons Wednesday, but a lot of kids had to do without their cell phones and music."
why are they shocked by a low outcome? they warned everyone, well most people, the day before. i know in my school, that it will be extremely easy to get weapons and other type of things around it. Everyone is not that stupid. the stupid people are those 129 cell phone users who took their phones, 19 music listeners, and that boxcuter. - iFanboy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Just because something used to be one way doesn't mean progress should be halted because it was good enough. That's an absurd notion. There is absolutely nothing wrong with kids listening to mp3 players on the way to school if they have a commute, or if they walk to school. They shouldn't be able to take them to school because some idiot can't follow the rules? That's a terrible way to run a society.
Sure, don't allow them in class, but this seems to be going beyond what a school is there for. - turbopro, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8what do you mean raids? they have always tried to take my walkman when I was in Middle school.
- sman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Allthewhile is correct. In New Jersey v. T.L.O, it was determined that the 4th amendment does apply in public school related searches. However, it was determined that ''the school setting requires some easing of the restrictions to which searches by public authorities are ordinarily subject.'' Neither the warrant requirement nor the probable cause standard is appropriate, the Court ruled. Instead, a simple reasonableness standard governs all searches of students' persons and effects by school authorities. You can read more about it in the link below.
Source: http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment04/04.html - silent1, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8If the kids are using the cell phones and music players during the day time, they SHOULD be confiscated. I'm paying for their damned education (even though I have no kids of my own -- thanks Family-oriented lobbyist groups), they better use it!
If they have a phone or music player in their possession but were not caught using it during school hours, confiscating at least the phone leads to legal implications. If I *did* have a kid and provided them with a cell phone for emergencies, I'd be over there in a heartbeat if they insisted my kid couldn't carry it with him/her. On the other hand, if it was confiscated because the kid was chattin' it up during school hours, I'll put my foot up his/her ass. - Abatrour, on 10/12/2007, -7/+14What about the students that use their mp3 player to record the lectures during class? It makes taking notes much easier. I guess they're screwed now.
- Duston, on 10/12/2007, -1/+74th amendment protects you from search and seizure from law enforcement. It however doesn't keep the school from searching school property. (like lockers)
- Klisk, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7@SvobodaIT: You mean the phone that they say you're aloud to use, but when you actually ask to use it, they tell you no? Or they say to goto the payphone down the street, even though you're not carrying money because you don't want to get it stolen?
Yeah, the office phone is one of those things. They'll only let you use it if they're in a good mood. If they're in a bad mood, they like to be malicious. At least that was my experience in school. - seventoes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Koshak, did you ever think that maybe he walks home and theres noone else who walks his way? Who's he supposed to talk to? Himself?
- Daniel591992, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8In NY, the puclic education is bad enough (trust me, I'm from NY). Kids don't learn anything. They are most likely listening to the iPods during class.
- skell, on 10/12/2007, -6/+12No portable music devices? I used to take public transportation to and from my high school. You're telling me I couldn't bring my iPod (then walkman) with me as I traveled to and from school? I couldn't keep it in my locker while I was in class?
Our education system is horrible in so many ways. - kube, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6@DanniK
Good question. None of those are forbidden over here (Germany, or at least in my school), but they can take them away until the end of the year if they disrupt the lessons repeatedly. Works fine, only had a phone ringing in class about ten times in the past five years, and everyone immediately dropped the call and turned off the phone when they noticed it was not silent.
It's not the gadgets itselves, it how the teachers and students handle it. When a phone rang, the owner would feel uncomfortable with everyone staring at him/her. Everyone could keep their stuff and everything made a lot more sense with respect to the intended use of phones.
And would hate the one-hour-bike ride to and from school without proper music to relax.. - allthewhile, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6"And in her ears the little Seashells, the thimble radios tamped tight, and an electronic ocean of sound, of music and talk and music and talk coming in, coming in on the shore of her unsleeping mind." -Fahrenheit 451
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Yup.. THAT'S it. It is always the parent's fault. Every kid that has caused problems in school has done so becuase their parents wre looking for their next crack hit. Right.
I am sure if you ever have kids, you will know exactly what he/she is doing at all times, and he/she will be a little angel, 100% of hte time. Never do anything without discussing it with you. Ever. - osbjmg, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Abatrour - who actually does that? What about tape recorders? They have been around forever and I rarely saw those in use in school...
- acceptab1euname, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5It's not like metal detectors are that great of a security tool anyway. Take a look at this school in Indiana, which had a violent attack on students. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/11/24/national1533EST0623.DTL
The district hired a security consultant to evaluate school security and the like, and the report specifically did NOT recommend metal detectors: http://www.valpo.k12.in.us/assets/pdf/TrumpReportSynopsis.pdf
http://www.valpo.k12.in.us/news/schoolsafetyreport2005.php - allthewhile, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Students have limited freedom within the walls of a school. For example, administrators do not have to have "proba ble cause" before they search through backpacks or lockers, only a "reasonable suspicion". There have been numerous court cases and rulings proving this, I believe. Is it right? I'm not sure.
- confusedwiseman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I'm 24. I shut off my "electronic devices" once to experience the world around me. I didn't like it.
I reject your reality and subsitiute my own. - Scourge, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Alright, maybe not a pen, but what about my car keys? My House Key?
A house key is deadlier then a cellphone... - ccanni1028, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5For backpacks, sman is correct. They need some reasonable cause to search, but someone's cellphone disappearing in a classroom is enough reason to search every backpack and purse/handbag in the room.
For lockers, no reason is needed. Lockers are the property of the school and they can search them whenever they want to. That's why they make you write down your lock combination and turn it in. - plkrtn, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6It wasn't about doubting the previous article, it was the chinese whispers.
The original article didn't report an iPod, ans suddenly the Digg link does.
Things like that pull Digg apart, and makes it inaccurate... - Brak710101, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Hubris,
Mythbuster might not go indepth, but you will remember a heck of a lot more.
Studies show that less then 10% of what you learn a day is retained. T.V. makes up for 6%. - aluminumpork, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4This reminds me of when there was a bomb threat at my girlfriend's school. She's a senior in high school, and I'm a first year college student. Anyways, all the students were herded into the class rooms and were stuck there for around two hours. Mind you, this was at the end of the day. All the parents were freaking out wondering if their kids were okay, and I was like-wise about my girlfriend. She called me from her cell telling me what was going on, evidently along with every other student in the class. The highschool has a no cellphone policy, don't think they have one on audio devices, but they policy seemed to disappear that day, the teacher didn't dare try and take the kid's phones.
The argument that "we didn't need them back in my day, so they don't need them now" seems to be mentioned a lot in this discussion. I feel it's flawed logic, and that that same argument could be applied to anything that has been developed in past years. It's like saying "Computers don't belong in school, we got along just fine without them in my day, and we had to walk both way up in hill in the snow!", computers can be just as distractful than any other electronic device. As technology improves, devices are going to be able to do more and more. Graphing calculator can play games, cell phones and play music and iPods can play videos. The policy that nothing that may be even slightly annoying or disruptive to the learning environment will become ridiculous as the tech improves.
The policy that "If we don't see it, hear or even know you have it, then we don't care" is perfect. Obviously if they can't see it or hear it then it has no chance of disrupting others. In the upper grades of high school especially, there are plenty of reasons to have a cell phone on you, and leaving it "in the car" is not an option if you do not drive. For instance, I used to do on-call tech support for a hotel chain during my senior year, I would be on immediately after school, and luckily I would have my cell on, ready to go. It wasn't an option to go home and grab it, that inconvenient and unrealistic, as you would have unhappy guests can't get ahold of tech support. Juniors and seniors in high school are just about to enter the "real world" and should be treated as such. I agree with previous posters on "High school is a job, and I used my cell at work, I'd be fired", but I also think that saying that is taking it a little too far. My argument isn't that phones should or should not be used during class time, but whether or not you can have them in your backpack for later use. I have my cell phone in my pocket at work, no one knows, no one cares, as long as I don't use it. - selloutvixen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Either that or all those kids were absent the day before.
- dagger89, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4^^^
Plus the DOE ALLOWED cell phones after 9/11. What happened to that??? - silvalynin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5This is all we spoke about today in english class....received the handouts stating all this info. I go to midwood h.s. (one of the schools without permanent scanners, yet), and previously we received handouts stating that the chancellor would allow us to have the items (ipods, phones, etc.) with us in school, they just weren't allowed to be used during school and had to remain hidden. We debated whether or not the whole confiscation of music devices and cell phones was really about "keeping students safe" (supposedly there were alot of kids getting robbed after school of these items) or if these devices were affecting our academic progress. So....supposedly, now that our phones will be confiscated if brought to school, all of the students will be smarter. Anyways, I'm not sure how leaving your cell phone home makes you SAFER, considering that if something happens to you outside of school, you don't have a quick way of being able to contact whoever you may need to.
And the whole thing about phones and music devices affecting our academic progress....I feel that if a student is too stupid to realize that if he/she keeps playing on their phone or listening to music all day, they should fail the damn class. I mean, why should every kid in high school not be able to bring their phone to school (some kids travel hours to get there), because a few kids would rather play all day instead of graduate. How about only the kids who are found using these devices in a disruptive manner, have their devices confiscated...that seems to make the most sense. I mean, I use my phone (ppc 6700) to take notes, because it makes things easier to organize and email to myself later for homework. I'd say that my phone actually HELPS with my academic progress, so why should I and others like myself have to suffer because of other people?
Anyways, I'm tired....that's just my 2 cents, anyone doing some sort of online petition against the mayor that students can sign? Actually, I don't care, i graduate in exactly 2 months and 1 day..... but I'll help the freshman out. - metsfan489, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Not really. Schools have every right to search a student when they have suspicion. A student going through a metal detector and it going off means that there is some suspicion. Now they have the right to search you and then they discover the cell phone. Cell phones are prohibited even though their rulebook doesn't state it specifically. They put it under the term "communications device" which is how they also consider iPods "prohibited". Heck, Pens and Paper are communications devices, we should ban them too.
- pebar57, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6They took the payphones out of my school too. But that was because morons kept calling 911, then hanging up.
- silvalynin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Eh I still feel like texting isn't such a big deal, most kids just simply look at someone elses paper since the person is right next to them. This still isn't a reason phones shouldn't be allowed in school.
- Hubris, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4There is a difference between the students who attend high school, and students at university. For one, most university students are legally adults - responsible for themselves, and the institution isn't legally responsible for them. Second, the students themselves are paying big bucks to be there - it isn't the 'responsibility' for the teacher to make them learn, it's entirely their own initiative.
- Brak710101, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Jakeg, shut up.
I'm not just typing these damn comments. I'm doing many other things. Once I finish the comment, I don't have time to go back to proofread and revise, I just click Submit.
How do you know who I am? Am I a billionare in New York making thousands a hour, or the slacker that you call me? How? Tell me? - shagz7, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4or the NYC school that those kids go to isn't as affluent as yours
- ccanni1028, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6Since I did work for the school (tech support), most of the teachers liked me and allowed me to "go get a drink of water" when my phone rang. I would then take my key and go to a room that other students couldn't see me and I would listen to the voicemail and return the call if I needed to.
** my edit time ran out right before I hit the update button to add this in** -
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