iPod got my ipod taken up

[clayj]

It amazes me when people such as yourself are given a very specific set of rules concerning things like cellphones and iPods in school (1. No using them, 2. No having them out of your backpack, 3. If we see it, it's confiscated, etc.) and then you're SURPRISED that the rule was actually enforced.

I just don't understand why people think that they are somehow special with respect to the rules: Oh, those rules are for everyone else, not for me. Or, you shouldn't take it away, because this is a special circumstance (e.g., "I was just showing it to my friend"). Unless the rules allow for special circumstances, there are NO special circumstances.

You're not at school to listen to music and talk to people on the phone. You're there to learn. Keep your electronics stowed and out of sight when school's in session.

 

[musicpyrite]

That is ridiculous not being able to have you iPod (or phone, CD player, etc.) back till Wednesday. What if your parents work Wednesdays and they're not able to pick it up? Tell your parents to demand that the school allow you to have you iPod back at your leisure. Remember, the worst thing a high school administration fears are the parents - and what they might do or say to specific people.

What teachers should do if they see you with something like that is to just tell you to put it away. If you don't, that's not their problem. Thievery is a big problem at my school though.

At my high school (I'll be a junior in 4 days ) if they 'catch' you with a phone, iPod, or CD player they (the teacher that sees you) take it away for the rest of the day and put's it in their unlocked desk. You can pick it up at the end of the day at 2 PM. Yeah buddy, like I'm going to leave my 200$ iPod and 150$ pair of headphones with my el-cheap-o phone in your desk for a whole day. I've been 'caught' more than once listening to music and talking on my phone during computer tech support class, and have had various teachers try to take them away. I basically tell the to kiss my ass, I'm not giving you anything. If you got a problem with that, talk to the computer tech support teacher. (tech support teacher allows this kind of stuff on a reasonable scale because some students (myself) do a lot of work for her).

Oh, and if your phone goes off in the middle of class because your mom/dad/sibling/etc. are in the hospital or injured for some reason, I think that's justified. But if it goes off in the middle of class so you can talk to your boyfriend or someone, you deserve to have it taken away. That **** is damn annoying.

 

[clayj]

That is ridiculous not being able to have you iPod (or phone, CD player, etc.) back till Wednesday. What if your parents work Wednesdays and they're not able to pick it up? Tell your parents to demand that the school allow you to have you iPod back at your leisure. Remember, the worst thing a high school administration fears are the parents - and what they might do or say to specific people.

I agree with you on the Wednesday thing... the parent should be able to come by any day after school to pick up confiscated items.

However, I think this is the only thing we're going to agree on.

What teachers should do if they see you with something like that is to just tell you to put it away. If you don't, that's not their problem. Thievery is a big problem at my school though.

I'm pretty sure the rules are spelled out in advance, so breaking them is grounds for immediate confiscation of the item. The point is that there should be ZERO disruptions of the learning process due to students' (or teachers') electronic items.

At my high school (I'll be a junior in 4 days ) if they 'catch' you with a phone, iPod, or CD player they (the teacher that sees you) take it away for the rest of the day and put's it in their unlocked desk. You can pick it up at the end of the day at 2 PM. Yeah buddy, like I'm going to leave my 200$ iPod and 150$ pair of headphones with my el-cheap-o phone in your desk for a whole day. I've been 'caught' more than once listening to music and talking on my phone during computer tech support class, and have had various teachers try to take them away. I basically tell the to kiss my ass, I'm not giving you anything. If you got a problem with that, talk to the computer tech support teacher. (tech support teacher allows this kind of stuff on a reasonable scale because some students (myself) do a lot of work for her).

Well, the desk drawer should be locked. But AGAIN, the point is that your electronic crap should be in the bottom of your backpack, not out where a teacher will see it and confiscate it. If they see it, that's YOUR fault. Right? And your computer tech support teacher should not be allowing students to break school-wide rules.

Oh, and if you told me (if I was a teacher) or one of my teachers (if I was the principal) to "kiss my ass", your ass would be suspended, immediately. Show some damn respect. Kids nowadays don't seem to understand that you are NOT who's in charge.

Oh, and if your phone goes off in the middle of class because your mom/dad/sibling/etc. are in the hospital or injured for some reason, I think that's justified. But if it goes off in the middle of class so you can talk to your boyfriend or someone, you deserve to have it taken away. That **** is damn annoying.

Not acceptable. Your phone should be turned OFF during class. You have no right, Constitutional or otherwise, to be reachable 24 hours a day. If someone in your family gets hurt, the school can be called and they can fetch you out of class. Class is not some optional activity that you can just ignore or ditch at will. You're there to learn, and nothing more.

 

[mintlivedotcom]

Although I've been pretty tolerant as a teacher posting on this thread, I have to agree with ClayJ.

I am a very relaxed teacher and give students freedom...to a point. My goal is to teach and anything that gets in the way of that will become an issue. I call kids "poopyhead" instead of "stupid" all the time. It's breaks up fights and puts the kids in check...and I've never been reprimanded for calling them that name.

I do think it's a lot different today than when I was in school. We didn't have gadgets to be taken away. However, since it IS different, students need to adapt to the changes in policies/rules. Your iPod shouldn't be more important than your education.

Show respect, get respect.

 

[hob]

I think, as I said before, it definately seems better to compromise. Its no good saying "all kids today have no respect" because that's simply not true.

Infact, it's probably just our changing perceptions. When I was beginning school, I'd have never talked to one of the older kids at school, let alone insult them.

By the end of my time at school, I noticed some kids would jeer at the older kids - showing of etc.

BUT when I was younger, I only hung around with people like me - who were quite polite and wouldn't ever do anything like that, thus a lack of perception - therefore a percieved change in behaviour.

There's always good kids and bad kids.

 

[hob]

Your iPod shouldn't be more important than your education.
Show respect, get respect.

Exactly - this was my general experience at school.

 

[clayj]

I think, as I said before, it definately seems better to compromise. Its no good saying "all kids today have no respect" because that's simply not true.

Infact, it's probably just our changing perceptions. When I was beginning school, I'd have never talked to one of the older kids at school, let alone insult them.

By the end of my time at school, I noticed some kids would jeer at the older kids - showing of etc.

BUT when I was younger, I only hung around with people like me - who were quite polite and wouldn't ever do anything like that, thus a lack of perception - therefore a percieved change in behaviour.

There's always good kids and bad kids.

Well, I didn't say that "all kids today have no respect"... but I would say that the number of kids who are willing to tell teachers to "kiss my ass" or who think they are entitled to the same rights as adults (hint: you're not, until you leave high school and turn 18) is much higher today than when I was in high school. I would NEVER have considered talking back to a teacher... not only because it's not the proper way to behave, but also because I knew I'd catch hell from my parents if I did. Obviously, many kids today get crap parenting at home.

As to electronics: If the teacher has to even say "Turn that off", then the class is disrupted. Add up all those disruptions for one class for the entire year, and you're probably losing several days' worth of potential instruction time. Not to mention, those who DO follow the rules are being indirectly punished because of those who think that they should be able to flaunt the rules and do whatever they want.

 

[CompUser]

The real source of the problem finally comes out. Most places seem to over react a bit. A simple please turn that off should work just fine, but I'm sure a lot of kids don't respond to a simple request.

Don't you think it is stupid when the principal starts suspending people right and left? If someone calls someone a name, and she or the vice principal hears it, they'll suspend you for 2-3 days most of the time. Why would you take someone out of school for 3 days? Apparently education doesn't matter, disipline does. What kid wouldn't want to be out of school for 3 days.
---

Heres another story: this girl had pictures of Johnny Depp all over her binder. This other girl scribbled out all the pics. The girl complained to a teacher and the teacher sent the two to the office. They made the girl who scribbled out the pictures MAKE A COLLAGE OF JOHNNY DEPP ( ) and had a week of lunch detensions.

 

[CanadaRAM]

Cell phone rules are retarted.

Plus... they take valuable time away from spelling class...

 

[eva01]

Not acceptable. Your phone should be turned OFF during class. You have no right, Constitutional or otherwise, to be reachable 24 hours a day. If someone in your family gets hurt, the school can be called and they can fetch you out of class. Class is not some optional activity that you can just ignore or ditch at will. You're there to learn, and nothing more.

Thank-fully the hospital puts me on call once or twice a month and i HAVE to be reachable when i am on call, no matter where i am, school, friends house, grocery store.

So if the hospital needs me to come in for a reason that is for the benefit of my patients then that presides over the school wanting my cell-phone off because my patients health comes before anything else.

And my teachers know this so i put my cellphone on vibrate and keep it in my pocket, if it goes off i walk out of the classroom and answer it.

 

[clayj]

Eva, are you in high school, or college? Because there's a HUGE difference... in college classes, things are much more acceptable than they would be in a high school class (e.g., using recorders to take notes, laptops to chat and send e-mail, other silent activities).

If you're in high school, as long as you have a well-documented need to be reachable and the teachers and principal understand that, that's fine. What I'm talking about is people who "have" to be reachable for reasons that aren't in any way extraordinary. The excuse of "well, someone might get hurt and I need to know about it" just doesn't fly.

 

[eva01]

I am in college, yet i do know that in some colleges teachers will still confiscate electronics that go off in class.

I wasn't just trying to pick on your post but i was just trying to help out the other side (the students) sometimes there are valuable reasons why the have a cellphone on. If i were a student in HS i would keep it on vibrate and bury it in my pocket.

I was just trying to show the other side of things, and that there really are good kids out there that have reasons for things. Thou most as you said have absolutely no respect for their elders. I would never speak back to a teacher. Heck I am friends with some of the teachers i had in HS. I was the good student.

 

[IndyGopher]

Cell phone rules are retarted.
Edit: Oh yes. One time in History this girl's cell phone went off and it was taken up. It was in her purse. Her mother had been in a car wreck and had a really serious ankle injury (the foot was hanging from her body by two tendons.)

I hear people use "reasons" like this for all sorts of things.. mssing school, missing work, etc, and the first question I always have is, "Are you a doctor?" because if you aren't, what is the point in you being away because of this? Someone is sick or hurt... see that they get the appropriate level of medical attention, and then get back to work. What possible good can come from telling a high school student that her mother was in an accident? Especially if it is not life-threatening? Certainly doesn't rate interrupting class. What parent lists their minor child as an emergency contact anyway? If I were injured at work, I certainly would not want (or expect, or tolerate, for that matter) someone calling my child's school to inform him. (Calling HIM of course better be impossible, because if I catch wind of him having a cell phone powered on at school, he'll be without anything running on electricty for quite some time)

Clearly things have changed in schools in the last 20 years, and not much (if any) of it is for the better.

 

[ham_man]

A few dip****s ruin it for everyone else. Welcome to life...

 

[jiv3turkey748]

It amazes me when people such as yourself are given a very specific set of rules concerning things like cellphones and iPods in school (1. No using them, 2. No having them out of your backpack, 3. If we see it, it's confiscated, etc.) and then you're SURPRISED that the rule was actually enforced.

I just don't understand why people think that they are somehow special with respect to the rules: Oh, those rules are for everyone else, not for me. Or, you shouldn't take it away, because this is a special circumstance (e.g., "I was just showing it to my friend"). Unless the rules allow for special circumstances, there are NO special circumstances.

You're not at school to listen to music and talk to people on the phone. You're there to learn. Keep your electronics stowed and out of sight when school's in session.

are you a teacher or something?

it was at lunch i mean come on and i new they would enforce it but its just a dumb rule to begin with

 

[eva01]

I am in total support of the rule unless there is proper documentation for a worthy cause of you having it on and in school.

 

[clayj]

are you a teacher or something?

it was at lunch i mean come on and i new they would enforce it but its just a dumb rule to begin with

No, I'm not a teacher. (And I don't play one on TV.)

What I want to know is, Do you understand the concept that they have established these rules for a reason, and you DON'T get to question them? You may think it's dumb, but guess what? It's not your decision. I may think speed limit laws are dumb, but that ain't gonna stop a state trooper from pulling me over and yanking my license if I drive 90 miles per hour.

You're in school to learn, not to talk on the phone or listen to music. If the rules had an exception for lunchtime, that would be one thing.... but they don't.

I expect the ban on iPods/MP3 players and phones has to do not only with their disruptive qualities, but also with safety (e.g., with headphones on you don't hear the fire alarm), courtesy/respect (e.g., you can't hear the principal or a teacher when they are talking to you), theft, and any other number of reasons. Again, you are in school to LEARN.

 

[jiv3turkey748]

dude you act like im some thug
i realize i broke a rule and got what they felt i deserved and i know it doesnt it matter what i think of the rule but im still pissed my ipod taken away iknow its my own fault but whatever
i understand where your coming from too and im not trying to create an argument

 

[clayj]

dude you act like im some thug
i realize i broke a rule and got what they felt i deserved and i know it doesnt it matter what i think of the rule but im still pissed my ipod taken away iknow its my own fault but whatever
i understand where your coming from too and im not trying to create an argument

I'm not acting like you're a thug. I was just curious as to whether you understood that there are rules for a reason, and if you realized that you had broken them and why. It seems you do, on both counts.

To prevent further instances of your being pissed, I would suggest that from now on, you leave your iPod in your backpack when you are in school.

 

[vincenewmacg4]

Heh i wouldn't let a teacher touch my iPod, if they touched it i would then have to use self defense and say i thought they were trying to grab me by the wrist to injure me so i broke their hand. Come on now kiddies, let's not forget that school is a learning institution.Leave the Ipods and cell phones either off or in the locker.

 

[hob]

Heh i wouldn't let a teacher touch my iPod, if they touched it i would then have to use self defense and say i thought they were trying to grab me by the wrist to injure me so i broke their hand.

ClayJ - I take back what I said based on the above comments.

I swear, I left secondary school 3 years ago - in the last 5-6 years behaviour has steadily declined....

If you say it's down to poor parenting, what happened to all the 25-40 year olds?

 

[ColoJohnBoy]

An important distinction ought be made in this case: whether the iPods were being used during class, or in bewteen classes, during lunch period or some other break. If, in fact, the iPods were being used during class, then their confiscation is justified, and the teacher or administrator ought return it at the end of the class period. On a break, however, using an iPod or cell phone causes no significant disruption to the educational environment - it probably makes the school day infinitely more bearable. To confiscate it then is disrespectful to the student and his or her rights to personal property. To require the parents to retrieve it at a very specific time is a ridiculous and unreasonable extension of this.

clayj - You're correct in that school is a place to learn; to expect every spare minute at school be devoted to an educational purpose is unreasonable. At my high school, we were given ten minutes between class periods, variable scheduling that allowed "off" hours, and forty minutes for lunch. How is listening to music during one of those periods disruptive to your education or that of any other person? What if I happened to be listening to Mozart or another classical composer, one whose music has been proven to enhance one's ability to absorb information? Is that disruptive?

Your posts are coming off poorly. You seem personally offended by this person's actions; your reprimands are condescending and inappropriate. Perhaps you shouldn't take this matter so seriously.

 

[faintember]

I agree with Clayj in most of his points. Here is what it boils down to for me:

1) Cell phones have no place in high-school or earlier, unless there is a medical or family reason that requires the student to have a cell phone. You do not need to use your cell phone in-between classes. Also cell phones can be used to cheat.

2) iPods should not be used in class, but should be cool everywhere else provided that some scholarly/school oriented activity is not going on.

I teach a class at my university. My syllabus basically says be on time, turn assignments in on time, and never, ever, ever let your cell phone ring or vibrate in class unless you have a valid medical or family reason to have the phone on. The second time their cell phone rings/vibrates 5 points are deducted from their final grade. I haven't had one incident with cell phones since i implemented this policy.

Rule are rules, learn to live by them or accept the consequences. In my HS days there was a new dress code rule about girls not being able to wear short skirts. Well me and my friends decided to wear "illegal" short skirts to school the next day (btw, we are all guys!). Needless to say we accepted our punishment, but the very next day the school released a new revised dress code that is gender unspecific. Moral of the story: don't whip your iPod out unless you plan on using it!

 

[clayj]

ColoJohnBoy: Wow. I think my point went right over your head; perhaps not.

The question is not whether listening to music during breaks between classes*, or during lunch, or during "off" hours (which we never had when I was in high school; you were in class every period except when you were having lunch), when no teaching is in progress. And it's not what you might be listening to. And it's not whether it's disruptive in any way. These are all side issues to the main point.

The point is that the administration have set forth a rule, in specific terms, that's to be followed. "If you have your iPod out during school hours and we see it, it will be confiscated." There are no exceptions listed because there are no exceptions. Yet, even though the rule is spelled out clearly enough for anyone to understand it, people STILL don't follow it... and then they complain when they lose their iPod. To them, I ask: Which part of "no" didn't you understand?

When you're in high school, the administration gets to make the rules, and the students are expected to follow them. And when the rules are spelled out clearly, there is no excuse for failing to follow them. I don't understand why anyone has a hard time understanding this.

Call me a stickler for the rules, but I am really tired of the Boston Public phenomenon of (1) students doing whatever they like, (2) their parents and/or lawyers interfering in the operation of the schools, and (3) people complaining about how the schools in this country aren't doing their job while, at the same time, not allowing them to do their job. An important part of fixing the schools in this country is re-establishing a sense of respect for authority among those students who are lacking. Part of THAT is drilling into people the concept of "here are the rules, follow them or suffer the consequences". Too many people think they're immune to the rules.

And, yes, I *do* take it seriously. (Condescending and inappropriate? Not according to the other responses I've received.)

* Oh, and the breaks are supposed to be just long enough for you to get from one class to another. It's not recess, it's transit time.

 

[faintember]

* Oh, and the breaks are supposed to be just long enough for you to get from one class to another. It's not recess, it's transit time.

Can clayj get an Amen?


Amen!