How to Discipline Students Who Are Caught on Their Cell Phone in Class
Everywhere you turn these days, someone is on a cell phone, and the number of students who possess cell phones can present problems for schools. While nearly all schools have rules forbidding cell phone use in class, many students flout the rules and try to sneak in phone calls or text messages. When punishing students for cell phone usage, faculty and administration must make the punishment fit the crime. Depending on the degree of rule violation, schools can employ a number of tactics to ensure that students abide by the cell phone rules.
Instructions
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Take away the student's phone. The first response to inappropriate cell phone use should be to confiscate the phone in question. By removing the phone from the student's possession, you ensure that they can not use the cell phone for the remainder of the day.
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Contact the student's parent and require that they pick the device up. After confiscation, schools can require parents to pick up the phone before returning the device. Making a trip to the school building to pick up a cell phone is an inconvenience to parents. After going through the hassle of coming to the school, parents will likely impress the importance of not using cell phones in class on their children in an attempt to avoid any future inconvenience.
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Keep the phone for the remainder of the year after a set number of offenses. If a cell phone is taken from the same student multiple times during the school year, schools can confiscate the phone for the rest of the school year. This rule is tricky to enforce, as parents commonly do not like the idea of paying a bill for a phone that a student can not use, but if parents okay the consequence, it can be highly effective in discouraging other students from breaking the established rule.
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Fine students. While fining is a more controversial approach to solving the problem, some schools currently opt to fine students. The fine is usually a mere $15, but as reported in an ABC News report, the schools that tried this method found it to be effective. In schools where this method is used, students must pay a fine each time their cell phone is taken before it will be returned.
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Require the student to write an apology letter to the teacher. When a student uses a phone in class, they are disrespecting the teacher of that class. Require the student to take accountability for his action by forcing him to write an apology letter to the teacher in question.
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Assign the student a research report in "sexting" or other cell phone-related offenses. Cell phones are not only a distraction; they can also be used in the perpetration of modern crimes, such as "sexting," the sending of racy pictures. To show students the possible ill effects of students possessing cell phones, require rule violators to research and write a report about "sexting" or other cell phone-related crimes. Once the student sees that the rule is not arbitrary, but instead in place for a reason, they may be more likely to abide by it.
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References
- Photo Credit cell phone image by MateiA from Fotolia.com
