For some teachers, fighting cell phones is a losing battle

Last school year, teacher Kevin Reese took pride in catching students using cell phones in class. He tried to confiscate at least one every class hour.

No longer. More students have cell phones, he said, and their getting better at hiding what their doing — sending text messages all day long.

“They are so good at it that they can text from the pouches on their hooded sweatshirts without even looking and make it look like they are just reaching for a pencil out of their pencil case,” said Reese, who teaches math at Clintonville High School. “It is out of control and I am left feeling helpless.”

Teach-ers in the area describe cell phones as epidemic of sorts. Often provided by parents so they can stay in touch with their kids, many students are flaunting policies prohibiting their use during the school day.

For young people, cell phone technology has turned into an ideal social networking device. Small and lightweight, they can store and play music, shoot photographs and make calls.

Clintonville science teacher Greg Rose said he’s seeing phones as more of an entertainment tool, and less for communication.

“Students play games, download ring tones, and even surf the Internet. Texting useless messages is commonplace. Students take silly pictures of each other using their camera phones,” he said. “I bet that if one asked a student what percentage of their cell phone usage was for actual phone conversation, they would find it to be infrequent at best. Most students use cell phones for the ‘extras’ now. Because of this, cell phones have no place in schools for the same reason we don’t allow Game Boys and PSP’s.”

But it's the texting function on cell phones that has teachers exasperated. Some youths are so good at it, they don't need to see the cell phone screen or the keyboard to type a message, said Bob Smits, a social studies teacher at Shawano Community High School.

Smits said he and other teachers can't see the phones, buried deep in the pockets of hoodies or in the pockets of baggy pants.

“Hearing a cell phone ring is not an issue now because they all vibrate, so the students all text instead of answering the phone — they can talk without having to speak,” he said.

Some students who follow cell phones rules are fed up with the offenders.

“A school environment should be a focused, learning one more than a social one,” said Clintonville High School junior Samantha Rohan. “Students get too wrapped up in their social life rather than school, and in turn, forget about more important things. Cell phones change priorities of this future generation. If they are allowed in school, social interaction will consume them and they will pay less attention to their academic performance.”

More of this story in Monday’s Leader.

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