And I thought you wanted your kid to have a phone in order to help socialize because I am all stuck in the past and can't see new ways of doing things. Just home school and let him facebook and text for socialization if it is so great. And just because there was cheating before doesn't mean we should add more options to it. Aqua, you seem to have way more issues than just cell phones. The fact that you are upset that your kid wouldn't be able to have a fully featured phone after school so he should have one in school? Makes no sense. You agree that a phone with less features would be better in school but are against it because that same phone won't do cool shit outside of school. That shouldn't matter. The quality of the education should be paramount. It shouldn't come second to doing cool shit with a phone after school. Any fully featured or smart phone that can be cripple can be uncrippled and there are some kids (not all before everyone gets offended) that will do EXTRA work to uncripple the phone to cheat rather than the work in the first place that would make the cheating unnecessary. That is why I like the idea better of a phone that can only call out to the numbers in the address book with no other abilities. This lets your kid call you in case a teacher touches them in a no no place of they get made fun of or harassed. You seem to believe that a school will do nothing to help harassment based on your own experience. I do not know what happened to you, what school system you were in or who you dealt with but assuming that it is the same everyone is false. If a school system cannot or will not do something I fail to see what you would be able to do besides move to a different school, which you may be doing a lot. My middle name is Lee and I had wonderful kids decide to call me Lee the pee in both my school in Brazil and in the states, due to no incident at all, merely because it rhymed and they thought it was funny. I was harassed a lot. I do not think calling my mother to talk about it in the middle of the day would have accomplished anything.
You dismiss all my reasons as no good out of hand, based entirely on your opinion in order to help further your point. I acknowledge you might need to call in an emergency, and even though they do have phones in the school for that, your distrust does not allow for the use of said phone. Your distrust of teachers and school systems in general are obviously skewed by your anecdotal first hand experience. This experience obviously created many issues for you way outside of the need for a cell phone in school. I would suggest joining the PTA and going to parent teachers conference as these are in place to help you get to know the teachers that you fear out of hand without getting to know. The only reasons you give is because you want your kid to be able to talk to you any time they want and in case of an emergency. Wanting to talk any time you want during the school day is not a good enough reason. The emergency call can be done with a phone at the school, and even if you distrust that so much, I suggested an option that would allow that without the negatives, but it isn't good enough for you. You would rather teachers have to do extra work watching the the class and checking that phones are truly crippled in stead of solving the problem from the get go and not having them in class. Your 6 year old doesn't need a smart phone in class, if at all. Your choice for when to give the kid a phone, doesn't mean they need it in class.
I really wish i hadn't mentioned sexting at the beginning because everyone seems to pick up on that and run with it because the media seems to make it such a huge deal, even after saying multiple times that I said it to be facetious and was joking. I could give two shits if they are texting a buddy to say this class is boring or suck my dick, they shouldn't be texting in class. No reason. I am not sying to stop texting because it will stop them from doing naughty things, I want to stop it in school because it shouldn't happen in class. The media will say it is sexting and drug dealing and such, but as everyone has pointed out over and over and over, even though I didn't argue it, they will do those things without texting. It is the texting itself, not the content, that shouldn't happen in class.
The argument that you could cheat before and write dirty notes to each, so what is different is odd. Lets give them more ways to cheat because they are going to do it anyway seems to be the logical move from that stance. It is possible to cheat with calculators of certain kinds which is why their use is limited in certain tests. Not because they think everyone will cheat, but the possibility is there and the less ways there are to cheat, the better. I understand that if someone wants to cheat, they will find a way, lets not give them another. At least make them work for that cheat, instead of thinking, why study? There's an app for that!
Christopher.krn, I was more suggesting that crippled phone one for elementary school kids since aqua seems determined to give his child a cell phone from kindergarten on. I have said numerous times I believe HS may be slightly different. I was not questioning the intelligence of children, just their maturity, since children are immature, that is kind of what a child is, a person that is maturing into adulthood. I am not trying to force them to pay attention, I am trying to remove an unnecessary distraction. I also didn't say public schools were bad, or private schools or home schools. It seemed at that point in the conversation that it might be a better fit since the majority of public school have no cell phones, though a minority allow it, but private schools have much more leeway in creating their rules. Hell, teachers at private schools don't even need teaching degrees or certificates if the schools don't make them. I think you read too much into my comment. Of course since Aqua is paranoid about teachers, school systems and is freaking out because uniforms will stifle a kids individuality, home schooling might be a better fit. Of course that individuality of not wearing uniforms can cause harassment as you do not have the jeans that are cool or the best shirt. Hate to be harassed for that. But I suppose that is the price of individuality.
Any learning advantage having phones in class could most likely be done with computers or devices bought for that purpose. Using the kids phone would have the same problem, aside from those of simply allowing cells in schools, as with the clothes. Not everyone will have the same kind of be able to afford the kind that can run all the cool educational apps. I had a little thing in college that was an IR device that allowed for...polling...think it cost 3 bucks. Little less than a smart phone, useful in the same way you mentioned Austin, with none of the drawbacks.
Every pro I have seen can be accomplished through different means and I still fail to see why a kid NEEDS to be able to send a text while at school or take a picture, or play a game, or surf the internet at will. This is especially true the younger you get and less true the older you get. Even a suggestion that allows an emergency call straight to the parent seems to not be enough even though it addresses the concern. It isn't about stopping sexting, which people seem convinced I am trying to do. It was mentioned in that list of negatives I copy and pasted from somewhere else, but it is the texting itself, not the content I think is unnecessary. At the moment it does not seem the good of cell phones out weigh the bad. The only suggestion you have given to the reasons I listed was that they are not good enough where I actually tried to address your, numerous, issues with the school system. I applaud you trying to change the school system for the betterment of your child, I do not approve of the way you are doing it or for the reasons you have so far set forth. Because of your numerous issues, do home school, will have you worrying about your kid less and that is always better for your nerves.
Edit: On a side note, every time I look at the topic I think of this, and the Simpsons version as well.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/1wCXr_6wgns?feature=oembed
