Privacy in Schools

[Giftfromme]

The thing about this is that such strict policy does nothing to promote a good educational environment. In college, if you get a ring, its taken as rude and reflects upon your integrity if you let it happen repeatedly, but a good professor will simply continue with doing their job.
Taking away phones over such a small offense turns the environment into a power struggle, and that effects all the students, and I'd easily bet that it does more damage than dealing with a small handful of students making poor choices by texting instead of paying attention.

The degree to which the staff of this school seem to have lost sight of the point of education is saddening.

Utter nonsense. It's stupidly annoying and why should one person's phone going off be allowed to distract the class? Just turn the damn thing off. He is in high school, not a CEO or an executive who might need information ASAP. Why should the lecturer or teacher have to ignore a ringing phone in class? They already have to deal with annoying and obnoxious teenagers, now you say they should add phones to that list?

Turn off your damn phone in class and make it easier on everyone. Such a simple act.

Kheapathic has it 100% correct.

I never said that someone should not turn their phone off in class. Don't put words in my mouth, I hate that!

What I was talking about is how its handled. A school should be an environment in which students should have enough discipline to not let their phones go off, and if it does happen, they should have enough respect for their teacher that their shame in such an event be enough punishment.
What I'm talking about is striving for an environment of mutual trust and respect, where you don't have to stop the education, the entire point of highschool, to discipline a student or students. How fucking hard is it to know when you've wronged your teacher?
Of course, by your calling students, "Annoying and obnoxious teenagers," you demonstrate your complete lack of faith in highschoolers, so my arguing my point is probably moot.

But yet again on the Escapist, I have to respond to posts by spelling out what I said in the first place, rather than having an actual discussion... I'm a bit disappoint.

Of course I called them annoying and obnoxious, I went through high school and saw all the shit. Do you want to know who had the best classes and who held the most respect? The teachers who were strict and fair. People may grumble, but ultimately they respected the fact that the teacher didn't take shit from the students. That included retarded things like mobiles in class.

Merely saying "students should have respect for their teachers etc" doesn't actually make it so. The only teachers that got respect in my high school were the ones that showed they took no shit from their students and expected them to act like adults. They didn't just expect all this respect etc, they demanded it and it showed in their teaching and discipline style. And yes that included holding the whole class back if someone was being a ***** and didn't own up to something particularly bad they had done in class. Worked every time.

 

[Durgiun]

My opinion: they try to take away your phone and fiddle through it? Tell 'em to ''piss off, would you kindly?''

 

[MrTub]

Im quite certain that is illegal, at least where I live, but phones isnt really the biggest problem where I study since everyone has a laptop and you are allowed to use your phone as long as you go out, so you do not disturb the rest of the class.

 

[FalloutJack]

I've always been okay with my school being allowed to take phones and such, seeing as it was against the rules. But today that has all changed.

I was sitting in a class, and we hear a phone go off. No one confesses to it, so the principal decides to take EVERYONE'S phone in the class. Not only did they take our phone, but they go through your messages, your Facebook and anything else they feel like doing. It just doesn't seem right, and there has to be SOME other way to avoid what they do now.

So I ask you Escapist, how do you feel about school privacy?

EDIT: They can get pass our passwords which is what brought this whole incident up.

Nope, that's fucked up.

Asking or in fact telling you to shut your phone off during class is reasonable.

Confiuscating it from someone who will not do this considerate thing is reasonable.

Taking any phone from anyone for any other reason is NOT.

Taking ALL phones from ANY person who is NOT guilty of thing one and breaking into them for GOD ONLY KNOWS WHAT is NOT FUCKING REASONABLE.

Class action lawsuit. Now.

 

[FalloutJack]

*Sigh*

You're not one to say. It wasn't your phone. My post is based upon the notion that if true, and it seems that way, do NOT let it slide. If it's false, then it's false. If it's true, then teachers are assholes. Now, let's have you put a hold on the second-guessing. It does nothing.

 

[Whispering Cynic]

Can they *make* you surrender your phone? Because they tried to make me give it up a few times in highschool (we're talking a good number of years back, but still...) and I always raised a bit of hell about it and was successful in most cases.

If you absolutely can't avoid giving them your phone, always do so with battery and SIM card pulled out and remaining in your posession. You can't trust people to maintain your privacy, you have to take steps to protect it yourself.

 

[FalloutJack]

*Sigh*

You're not one to say. It wasn't your phone. My post is based upon the notion that if true, and it seems that way, do NOT let it slide. If it's false, then it's false. If it's true, then teachers are assholes. Now, let's have you put a hold on the second-guessing. It does nothing.

It's called conjecture and it's the most logical solution. The OP is unable to explain how the staff bypass the security on their phones or how he knows they went through all the information. He just knows that the phones were gone through but doesn't know how they bypass the password protection. Instead of getting caught up in the privacy argument I can look at the argument and see where the argument fails. It may have been years ago but I still remember how high school is, kids make shit up to stir up trouble.

And I remember high school where the faculty were shit, full of themselves, and lousy at teaching besides. You're offering a dismissal to the issue on the grounds that high schoolers make stuff up just to start trouble. Here is what I say to it: LET THEM. True or false (though I would say true, myself), the educational system needs a kick in the ass. Where am I pulling this notion from? My own life experiences, discussion with my peers, and a teacher-father who - despite his other flaws - wasn't shit like his co-workers. If this is nothing but a witch-hunt, FINE. Burn the witches. The fire it lights will set an example to keep the rest of 'em in line. Myself, a fair few peers, and probably my dad would love to see the heads spin, just for laughs. Now, if you're quite done, I have some evil laughter to get through.

 

[SwagLordYoloson]

Easy way to avoid confiscation is carry your phone in your underpants. When they ask for it you just tell them to get it them selves. When they reach down your pants get your hard on then they will have no choice to either engage in sex with you or to back of rather awkwardly and never speak to you again.... or file a sexual harassment claim, but you should have evidence to file one back too, after all they chose to touch your penis!

OT: give them the phone but take out the battery? problem solved they can't do shit with it!

 

[GeneWard]

Yeah, this kind of shit is common in my school. We have an internet censoring program on the network which also applies to mobile devices, which, in my opinion, is fair enough. But when they save and check your internet history when you attempt to access a blocked page (examples of which include Facebook, YouTube and, well, all social networks; again, fair enough in my eyes) and can use what they find to sanction you, whether you accessed it on the school network or not, shit gets Orwellian. I got a detention last week because I had my own fucking Tumblr page in my history.