Are teachers allowed to kick you out of the classroom for looking at your phone?

[cefm]

This is the kind of thing that is covered by your University's code of conduct policy, student handbook, etc. - so there will be no ONE answer universally to this question (unless you're asking whether such a policy should be in place or would be a good idea).

Look it up in the relevant published policies for your school, and if in doubt ask your student disciplinary board or whichever body oversees these issues (every school has one).

I don't really have a problem with it personally - college is far too late in life to have to grow up, and if you know that you're going to be fined/fired/demoted for doing something that simple and easy to avoid, then it's high time you start controlling your behavior better.

 

[Dango]

It varies from school to school, but I'm pretty sure no school would let a teacher mark you absent for that.

 

[spartan231490]

No. Teachers in college atleast here in Canada are not allowed to kick you out of the class room. She is being paid to be up there and you are paying to sit in her class. If she has a problem with it sucks to be her. Now if your phone is constantly ringing or you are disturbing the whole class then she may have cause to have you leave but thats it.

Honestly if a teacher ever told me to get out over something like that I would just tell her to fuck off. In fact I have done that before, he got really pissed off but continued to teach the class and ignored me.

It's not just her problem, it's disruptive to the whole class, she has every right to kick him out. If he is disrupting the whole class, and anyone who's ever been in a college class and had a cell go offs knows that cell-phones disrupt class, then she has every right to kick him out so that he doesn't degrade the education of everyone else in the room.

 

[conflictofinterests]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ombudsman

You need to look for the person who does this at your college. At mine, that's what they're called. Pretty much if at any point you think the college or any of its affiliates are giving you a raw deal, you talk to this person so the college can avoid going to court with you.

 

[conflictofinterests]

No. Teachers in college atleast here in Canada are not allowed to kick you out of the class room. She is being paid to be up there and you are paying to sit in her class. If she has a problem with it sucks to be her. Now if your phone is constantly ringing or you are disturbing the whole class then she may have cause to have you leave but thats it.

Honestly if a teacher ever told me to get out over something like that I would just tell her to fuck off. In fact I have done that before, he got really pissed off but continued to teach the class and ignored me.

It's not just her problem, it's disruptive to the whole class, she has every right to kick him out. If he is disrupting the whole class, and anyone who's ever been in a college class and had a cell go offs knows that cell-phones disrupt class, then she has every right to kick him out so that he doesn't degrade the education of everyone else in the room.

Well, if it was on vibrate and she only noticed it for the second or so he took it out to turn it off, I don't really think that's disturbing the class. Now, there are plenty of cases where cellphones are the most obnoxious, distracting goddamn things on the planet, but this just doesn't sound like one of them.

 

[thespyisdead]

the way i understand it, is that college is a place where teachers should not give a fuck about what people do...

you, sir, have one terrible teacher (the female dog type)

 

[spartan231490]

In college, so long as you can defend your grading system, you can do pretty much whatever.

As for attendance, depends on the college's policy on attendance. If the school allows teachers to mark a student absent when thrown out of class, then yes, that was within the teacher's right.

In high school, my kids lose their participation points for the entire week if I have to throw them out of class. I treat it like a job (which it is, their "job" is to come to school, do work, and learn) in that if you did things like play with your phone at work, disrupt others, etc, you're likely getting a disciplinary mark against you if not getting fired. As I see it, all schools and classrooms should adopt policies like this. We need to prepare kids for the workforce, and part of that means shutting off your damn phone during work hours unless your job expressly mandates use of your phone.

Oh no. We can't force the wittle babwies to act like adults. It's so draconian, they might actually turn into functioning members of society.

Turn off the damn phone. I personally wish all my profs had policies like this. I put my phone on silent, not vibrate(cuz you can damn well hear a phone vibrate across a lecture hall) fucking silent, and I check it between classes. It makes me see red when I can't fucking hear the proffessor because the kids in the row in front of me are texting constantly, so all I hear for the whole lecture is BZZZZZ BZZZZZ BZZZZZZ.

I personally think it's the most disruptive thing a kid can do in a classroom. Even a conversation is less disruptive because it's low and continuous and just blends into the background. between the chirps and buzzes and flashing screens, I can't even hear a professor in a big lecture hall(even one with great accoustics) and I have trouble keeping my eyes on the board to even get that much information, because the phones are so disruptive.

Anyway, sorry about the rant, it's probably my biggest pet peeve.

 

[Yopaz]

If you are in college the teacher can do whatever the fuck he/she wants. You're a grown up now, you can't expect to have the same lenience as when you're a kid. Phones these days comes with a function to turn them off. Use it.
Using the phone signals that you're only there because you don't have a choice. Yeah, that's probably not it, but this is a matter of showing respect. There is a rule against using phones, you obviously knew that beforehand. Yeah this is harsh and probably too harsh, but really this is life. When you're done with your education you might be fired for being late too many times or not showing enough interest. Learn from the experience and turn off your phone.

...When ever someone's phone goes off in their back pack, she writes their name down and when the next test comes around she subtracts points from them.

If these tests have any bearing on the official grade you receive then that has to be against some rule, as your phone has no bearing on your academic performance.

The other day my phone was on vibrate so she couldn't hear it, but it just kept going off so I took it out to shut it off. She caught me and asked what I was hiding, and told me to show the class. I put up no resistance and gave her no trouble, I just said "my phone was going off so I was shutting it off" and showed that it was indeed my phone. She then pointed to the door and said "good bye" I was baffled and asked "Are you really kicking me out?" and she angrily said "Yes, I have a zero tolerance on phones" once again I didn't fight this and just left.

A massive over-reaction, given the circumstances, but at the end of the day it is her classroom.

...She also marked it as if I was absent for that day of class

That has to be against some rule; you should only be marked as absent if you did not turn up for the class on time.

I am just curious, are teachers actually allowed to do that? To subtract points from tests and kick students out and mark it against their attendance? I have the class tomorrow, I am not sure if she is gonna do anything else when I get there.

I'd suggest you talk to someone higher up at your college about the rules relating to teacher conduct. There's no guarantee she broke any of them but that does seem pretty damn draconian. If she did break any rules then chase it up, make sure it doesn't happen again.

Actually from what I have heard being kicked out of class is not a valid excuse for absence since just like when you're sick or late it's your fault that you're not present in class.

 

[CotF1692]

Thanks for all the views and opinions, I feel lucky after reading some of these XD I learned my lesson about having my phone on (all through out high school and college I never once got in trouble for it) I am mostly concerned about the absence thing above all else because she does cut your grade if you miss a certain amount of classes.

I kind of have it out for this teacher because once I tried to turn in a stack of work sheets stapled, but she said it needed to be paper clipped, within the minute it took me to go back to my desk and get a paper clip, she wouldn't accept it because it was "late" so that is why I am just keeping an eye out for things. Sadly it is in her syllabus, I just recently checked (she never gave us one she just put it on her website) but I am just the first to actually be kicked out of the class, when people's phones openly rang in class and she didnt hear mine or anything she just saw me take it out to turn it off.

 

[Alienmen1]

The zero policy thing is okay for me, because college is a place to learn, not to text or talk on the godamn cellphone.

And about kicking, you need to go talk to your student syndicate, if you have one, if not, go talk to the direction or to anyone who could answer you

 

[BoogieManFL]

How can reducing your grade on a test be a way to deal with this? That's in no way a way to show how well you know what you've been taught. Shitty teacher.

 

[spartan231490]

No. Teachers in college atleast here in Canada are not allowed to kick you out of the class room. She is being paid to be up there and you are paying to sit in her class. If she has a problem with it sucks to be her. Now if your phone is constantly ringing or you are disturbing the whole class then she may have cause to have you leave but thats it.

Honestly if a teacher ever told me to get out over something like that I would just tell her to fuck off. In fact I have done that before, he got really pissed off but continued to teach the class and ignored me.

It's not just her problem, it's disruptive to the whole class, she has every right to kick him out. If he is disrupting the whole class, and anyone who's ever been in a college class and had a cell go offs knows that cell-phones disrupt class, then she has every right to kick him out so that he doesn't degrade the education of everyone else in the room.

Well, if it was on vibrate and she only noticed it for the second or so he took it out to turn it off, I don't really think that's disturbing the class. Now, there are plenty of cases where cellphones are the most obnoxious, distracting goddamn things on the planet, but this just doesn't sound like one of them.

I can hear a cell-phone go off on vibrate from 200 feet away across a lecture hall. In a bag, in a pocket, on the desk, doesn't matter. And it's irritating. It's so bad in most lecture halls that you can't even hear the professor behind the half-way point, and even at the 1/3 point it's difficult.

And besides that, cell-phones in general are disruptive. Yes this example isn't that disruptive(except for the fact that it had been going off continuously) but if she just said "yeah ok" kids would just pretend to put it away and pull it right back out. I've seen it.

 

[Leopard]

Actually I agree with the teacher. If she says no phones then you should abide by her rules.

 

[theSHAH]

Ok, everyone needs who says otherwise needs to chillax. He's paying her to sit there essentially. Unless he's disrupting the class in away he can do whatever the hell he wants to do on his phone or whatever. None of my professors care at all except one and I don't listen to her anyway.

 

[conflictofinterests]

How can reducing your grade on a test be a way to deal with this? That's in no way a way to show how well you know what you've been taught. Shitty teacher.

She's hitting the students where it hurts. The only thing college students are in class for nowadays is their grades, they don't actually give a shit about learning; it's typically just a side-effect of getting the checks for their transcripts. By threatening said checks, she's providing a huge incentive to follow her rules. Anyone currently in college knows that tests aren't for demonstrating knowledge of the material anymore, the teacher is just covertly admitting it, instead of trying to deny it.

Now, this is much better than the most draconian form of test taking I have heard of. It involves negative pop quizzes, where the results couldn't improve your grade, but if you did badly, they could certainly damage it.

 

[MasterOfWorlds]

I don't think that they're allowed to kick you out without a warning first. I've had a professor kick a student out who kept falling asleep, but he told him to either leave or stay awake at least twice before finally sending him packing.

I've also seen a professor try to take a student's notebook to force the student outside, and it basically turned into a "Leave. Now." "Make me." argument because of it. The student and the professor stepped out of the room, I jokingly offered to take bets on who would get floored first, but after about five minutes of debate outside the class, they came in, and the student just sat there.

On one hand, I don't think that they have that authority. On the other hand, if they handed you a syllabus for the term and it states that they have that stance on phones, then you might not have a case if you decide to report it.

My kneejerk reaction is, "No, they can't do that." but it really depends on the college and the teacher specifically.

Subtracting points. Yes, they can do that. Kicking you out. Yes, under certin circumstances. Marking absent when you were there...I don't think so.

 

[funguy2121]

I am a college student, and I have a teacher who is hard core against cell phones in the class. (that and she just acts like all the students are children) When ever someone's phone goes off in their back pack, she writes their name down and when the next test comes around she subtracts points from them.

The other day my phone was on vibrate so she couldn't hear it, but it just kept going off so I took it out to shut it off. She caught me and asked what I was hiding, and told me to show the class. I put up no resistance and gave her no trouble, I just said "my phone was going off so I was shutting it off" and showed that it was indeed my phone. She then pointed to the door and said "good bye" I was baffled and asked "Are you really kicking me out?" and she angrily said "Yes, I have a zero tolerance on phones" once again I didn't fight this and just left. She also marked it as if I was absent for that day of class

I am just curious, are teachers actually allowed to do that? To subtract points from tests and kick students out and mark it against their attendance? I have the class tomorrow, I am not sure if she is gonna do anything else when I get there.

I'm actually impressed when a teacher or a supervisor simply says, "Keep your phones on vibrate." It is not your right to have your phone on in any capacity in class, and though honest mistakes do happen, the majority of cell phone users simply put them on vibrate and still look at them or don't even turn the volume down at all when they go to a movie, or go to work, or attend class. It is disrespectful of not only your teacher but also of your classmates to leave your phone on during a test, and it's perfectly understandable that, most phones being smart, you could be unfairly accused of cheating with your phone. So it's not only a matter of respect but also a pragmatic decision to make sure that thing's off.

It could well be that the last 3 classes she taught, your instructor dealt with the types of individuals I described above. Sometimes people overreact, sometimes they are justified. Since it's college your talking about, is it fair to assume that there are more than 90 people in your class? Then how is your teacher supposed to know you well enough to know that it was an honest mistake.

My post was significantly different after you said it was college. I thought at first that you were describing high school. High school sucks at best and is a nightmare at worst for most teachers, so they sometimes go overboard in policing dress, appearance, and innocuous behavior. I don't think high school students should be allowed to have their phones on at all in class, because respecting phone usage is an adult activity; reaping the benefits must be earned. You don't stand in line behind someone at Starbucks and start yelling at your girlfriend, and you don't call someone demanding to know who they are without identifying yourself. Stuff like that. However, when I was in high school there was a period where we couldn't wear these popular Calvin Klein "CK" shirts, because someone had told our idiot faculty that "CK" stands for "Crip Killer."

 

[band43seat]

what is so hard with people turning off their phone when at school, i dont even take my phone to school, i dont have a need to call anyone in the middle of class, and even when im at work, my phone stays in my bag, on vibrate. if im at school, im their to learn, if im at work, im their to work. the only reasonable excuse is that your waiting on an actual important phone call, like if your waiting for a call back from an interview, or a family emergency. otherwise keep it off

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

Wait, so your entire class consists of people that can't even turn off their cell when they're clearly in a position where they're not meant to use it.

Please tell me you're just pretending you're in college to appear cooler...

This. Thats the problem with people nowadays, phones control their life, its as if they dont receive a txt from a friend or Facebook every 5 minutes they get jumpy and check their phone. Its pathetic really.

Go to class. Turn you phone off and do your work. Yes she shouldnt mark you absent, but then again i bet it taught you a lesson and you wont do it again. Also you didnt state whether or not your teacher told you the rules and what would happen if you broke them.