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

[CheckD3]

Everyone seems to have answered, but I will add that having a phone on silent/vibrate is something I do rather than turning it off because it takes extra time to have the phone turn on and off, and personally I feel like having it off means I could miss an important calls or such.

I agree that it's unfair to kick you out though, especially when you told her what you were doing, and didn't act like a jerk. As people have said, report her

 

[BeerTent]

Your in collage, right?
Your an adult, when something questionable like this that can damage your post-secondary education, do something about it. Contact your teacher's boss and continue up the chain of command until you get results.

Also, don't start a fight. You handled it significantly better than I would have.

 

[someonehairy-ish]

To all the people saying 'I don't take a phone to school, I'm there to learn!' I totally agree!!1 The phone isn't ever a useful tool for organising events or navigating things that happen with no forewarning, its a stupid distraction for keeping up with facebook! The idea that one might be invited to say, a cinema trip, after college one day and want to notify your family where you'll be is completely inconceivable.

That bit was sarcastic btw.

OT:
The register/attendance record is a legal document, intentionally marking you absent when you weren't is illegal.
Also taking marks from you in a test for things completely unrelated to the test (favouritism) is probably illegal and even if itsn't, it is extremely bad practice.

Also she kinda sounds like a *****. 'Zero tolerance policies' are generally stupid, almost everything has a conceivable situation where it might be justified.

I'd report her.

 

[Exterminas]

Let me answer your complaint with a question:

Have you ever tried to speak to a horde of 30 people, while every now and then their concentration gets broken by a ringing phone? No?

Then do what Grown-Ups-Do: Knuckle under.

 

[conflictofinterests]

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.

I don't like that since several assholes can't leave their cells alone for five minutes my forgetting that I own a cell until it goes off in class might mean a very harsh punishment for me. Luckily, anyone who's likely to call me is also likely to know my schedule, so it's not THAT awful... I just think it's unfair.

 

[The Unworthy Gentleman]

She can mark you down for it, sure, but she's not allowed to mark you as absent.

You should report her.

She's sure as shit not allowed to take marks off on a test for it.

Report the fuck out of her. I'm all for disciplining students who are utter cunts but I cannot stand a teacher being such a control freak that their students suffer.

 

[Hugh Wright]

As a teacher I agree with the zero tolerance on mobile phones, for many of the reasons given. Just wish that in the schools I've worked in had such a policy or had the nuts to enforce it.
As for the absence things, I can't say without knowing the specific school/college system, but it may be a health and saftey thing. The register is often used in fire evacuation roll calls so if you were not in the classroom you should not be on the register in case of emergencies.

 

[Skoosh]

She seems justified to me. She deals with a couple hundred students a day most likely, and sure, maybe 1 in 10 times it's an honest mistake, but making exceptions causes problems. There's no way of knowing if you're lying and you were warned before that there was 0 tolerance for phones. If she said she had little tolerance, sure, you should have argued, but zero means zero.

This is something that has always bugged me. Vibrate is not the same as silent or off. People hear the phone vibrating. You can't check the texts anyway, just turn it on silent or turn it off. Vibrate is just a bit better than having it ring. If I were a teacher, I'd have a similar zero tolerance policy. I wouldn't mark you absent, but I would take points off your grade (probably on class participation, not a test, but ultimately it's the same effect) or kick you out of the class. You should know better. Come to class prepared, don't turn it off in the middle of class, do it beforehand.

 

[someonehairy-ish]

Snip

Phone wasn't ringing. Phone was silently vibrating (ie not disturbing anyone.)
OP was turning it off. Again, not an activity that is likely to distract anyone.

 

[forthwallbreaker]

Looking at your phone DOES NOT desrupt the class. The teacher talking time to kick you out, DOES!

 

[Mr.Pandah]

You're paying for College. That is my biggest deal with this. She has no right to do any of that. Sure, you can have rules against cell phone usage and what not, but being marked absent? Fuck that. Someone needs to pull the stick out of her ass. I've fought teachers on grounds about this and won because it's just stupid. I'm in College, I'm an adult now, treat me like one and I'll treat you the same way. Treat me as a child and I'll go about things in the "adult" way and make your life a living hell.

 

[Dastardly]

She can mark you down for it, sure, but she's not allowed to mark you as absent.

You should report her.

Actually, attendance isn't just a measure of whether a student is physically present in the room. It's an indication of who is in class and learning. If the teacher finds that your phone is distracting you from learning, you're just "in the room," you're not "attending class."

Seriously, people need to quit trying to scoot by on technicalities. Put your phone away. If no one is bleeding or on fire, it's not an emergency. And if they are, you shouldn't be in class.

She's perfectly within her rights to ask you to leave, and then to mark you as absent because you are not there.

 

[Rnr1224]

you could definitely appeal it. but you forfeit a lot of rights when you attend school. that was high school but idk about college since you are paying money.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

She can mark you down for it, sure, but she's not allowed to mark you as absent.

You should report her.

Actually, attendance isn't just a measure of whether a student is physically present in the room. It's an indication of who is in class and learning. If the teacher finds that your phone is distracting you from learning, you're just "in the room," you're not "attending class."

Seriously, people need to quit trying to scoot by on technicalities. Put your phone away. If no one is bleeding or on fire, it's not an emergency. And if they are, you shouldn't be in class.

She's perfectly within her rights to ask you to leave, and then to mark you as absent because you are not there.

Attendence is also taken as part of a fire register. So actually, it's very much illegal for a person not to be noted as attending, when they are.

 

[Dastardly]

You're paying for College. That is my biggest deal with this. She has no right to do any of that. Sure, you can have rules against cell phone usage and what not, but being marked absent? Fuck that. Someone needs to pull the stick out of her ass. I've fought teachers on grounds about this and won because it's just stupid. I'm in College, I'm an adult now, treat me like one and I'll treat you the same way. Treat me as a child and I'll go about things in the "adult" way and make your life a living hell.

You're paying to attend the college for the purposes of education. If you're not following classroom codes of conduct, that's your problem. Paying tuition isn't like buying a plot of land in the classroom -- you're paying for the privilege to attend the class within the rules.

Don't like it? Don't pay.

She has the right to have such rules in her classroom. She runs that shit. A teacher isn't just someone hired to read a script in front of the classroom -- she is "the man" in that room, for that course.

If someone knows the rules and breaks them, don't act like they were "being an adult." They were being a child, seeing if they could get away with in -- just like someone doing 5 mph over the speed limit. And this time, they didn't. So take the consequences for this one time, and then just don't do it again. That way, these consequences will never be an issue again.

Now, if you have a legitimate beef with it impacting test grades, you should approach the teacher and try to open a dialogue about that policy. But bear this ever in mind:

The teacher has proven she is deserving of respect. She has completed high school, completed at least one 4-year degree, completed probably at least one advanced degree, undergone a rigorous hiring process, and is still undergoing regular performance reviews. And the people who have given her the stamp of approval? They've proven even more.

So when push comes to shove, you don't even have nearly the credibility to judge her classroom. Sorry, that's just the way of it.

 

[Dastardly]

Attendence is also taken as part of a fire register. So actually, it's very much illegal for a person not to be noted as attending, when they are.

Well then it's a good thing he wasn't present. He was told to leave the class, and then he was marked absent.

 

[Shivarage]

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)

Well you are. You're taking that class to learn, not dick around on your phone.

Grow up, get some discipline, and turn your cell phone off during classes. ESPECIALLY in fucking college.

What if there is a family emergency? you can't just ignore something like that...

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

The policy at my uni was that teachers could set their own policy. If you wanted to to contest it you had to do it formally, but in the lesson itself you abided by what the lecturer or tutor said.

Also, if you know there's a zero tolerance policy, then either don't take your phone in, or switch it off before the lecture/class.

If you're in high school (I don't know what the American terms are exactly. Is college university level or last years of high school?) then absolutely no phones. No phones on in classes. Preferably not even in the class. No argument from me.

 

[Shivarage]

You're paying to attend the college for the purposes of education. If you're not following classroom codes of conduct, that's your problem. Paying tuition isn't like buying a plot of land in the classroom -- you're paying for the privilege to attend the class within the rules.

Don't like it? Don't pay.

She has the right to have such rules in her classroom. She runs that shit. A teacher isn't just someone hired to read a script in front of the classroom -- she is "the man" in that room, for that course.

If someone knows the rules and breaks them, don't act like they were "being an adult." They were being a child, seeing if they could get away with in -- just like someone doing 5 mph over the speed limit. And this time, they didn't. So take the consequences for this one time, and then just don't do it again. That way, these consequences will never be an issue again.

Now, if you have a legitimate beef with it impacting test grades, you should approach the teacher and try to open a dialogue about that policy. But bear this ever in mind:

The teacher has proven she is deserving of respect. She has completed high school, completed at least one 4-year degree, completed probably at least one advanced degree, undergone a rigorous hiring process, and is still undergoing regular performance reviews. And the people who have given her the stamp of approval? They've proven even more.

So when push comes to shove, you don't even have nearly the credibility to judge her classroom. Sorry, that's just the way of it.

Someone needs to come out from under a rock, didn't ya know breaking rules and exploiting others is part of being a grande professional? :B