posted by Mike Madison at 2:20 PM /
Jo Posti answered my question about pay phones at Mt. Lebanon High School. Quoting from her message, with her permission:
Apparently phones were removed, for similar reasons, from Jefferson and Mellon Middle Schools. Jo says that the principals of the affected schools communicated the change to their respective student bodies after the principals themselves were notified, back in November 2006.
The high school's policy on cell phones is stated in the Student Handbook:
The pay phones were removed due to their high cost to the District. Over the years, usage has declined while costs have increased. After conducting a usage study, our technology director found that the phone with the most use is the one located near entrance C-28 and that phone will remain. This is the entrance at the rear of the school that is used for pick ups and drop offs and students can continue to use that pay phone. They can also continue to use a phone in the office should they need to contact their parents during school hours.
Apparently phones were removed, for similar reasons, from Jefferson and Mellon Middle Schools. Jo says that the principals of the affected schools communicated the change to their respective student bodies after the principals themselves were notified, back in November 2006.
The high school's policy on cell phones is stated in the Student Handbook:
In order to maintain an environment conducive to learning, the use of cell phones is prohibited during the school day. Students are permitted to use cell phones before and after the school day, but cell phones must be turned off and not visible, regardless of the reason, during school hours. Any cell phone that is visible during the school day will be confiscated and parents will be asked to come to the school to pick up the cell phone.
Labels: high school, school district
3 Comments:
Thanks to Posti, a clear answer. The cell phone policy sounds very clear, hope they enforce it.
Honestly, if there is REALLY an emergency your kids can go to the office--I'm sure they can use the phone. I can't see that this a big deal! In all 4 years of high school (when people didn't have cell phones) I never needed to call home randomly! In fact, the only time I ever used the pay phone was to call the SCHOOL to call a friend out sick so she could CUT SCHOOL! If I was sick, the nurse called home for me, if there was an emergency I went to the office and they took care of it. Parents need to stop baby-ing their kids and let them learn to be a little more self sufficient--I'm scared for them when they enter the "after high school years"--Mommy and Daddy will not be able to be there for every phone call. They'll need to figure out how to take care of their own emergencies.
This is, I suppose, the danger in judging the scope of a problem solely based on your own experience. If something isn't an issue for you, how could it be a problem for anyone else?
I went to high school before cell phones had even been invented. Yes, there was such a time. And my school (which was not, of course, Mt. Lebanon) had a pay phone, and I and my friends used it all the time, not to help co-conspirators break the rules, but to arrange all kinds of non-emergency (and legal) things.
Having pay phones in school isn't a life-or-death issue, but it also isn't only a question of emergency preparedness. People (including kids) use phones for all kinds of things, and lots of people, believe it or not, don't have cell phones. Pay phones have always been a cheap convenience. Using the phone in the school office isn't an alternative when you want to call a friend's house after school to find out where the gang is getting together, or when you live too far from school to walk home on a frigid, wet day and you want to organize a ride for yourself and your friends.
My kids brought up the pay phone issue not because they're scared and can't handle things on their own, but for precisely the opposite reason. They've gotten used to relying on the pay phones in order to organize themselves, because they don't carry cells, and now they have to figure out an alternative.
I can't resist: Who you gonna call?!
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