Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
The Hernando County School Board made the right call on cellular telephones Tuesday night.
Faced with increased and sometimes disruptive use of cell phones on campus, the board approved a recommendation by its staff to make misuse of them a more serious offense.
Students who break the rules now will face punishments that will range from after-school detention to out-of-school suspension for a first offense; a second offense will be automatic out-of-school suspension and a possible expulsion.
The move toward restricting cell phone use comes at a time when teachers and administrators are struggling to deal with the challenges presented by a rapidly changing technology that allows students to send and receive calls and messages almost undetected. Some devious students are even taking advantage of the sophisticated equipment to cheat on tests or download restricted information from school computers.
Most students are not that dishonest, but they still are disrupting classrooms and routinely defying rules that limit cell phone use to before and after school, and during lunch breaks.
The problem has become so common that teachers are tempted to look the other way rather than strictly enforce the rules. At the same time, more students are prepared to risk being caught because the consequences for breaking the rules are minimal.
That's why it was necessary for the School Board to put teeth into the rule, as spelled out in the Student-Parent Handbook, that increases the penalty for using cell phones improperly.
Cell phones have become a necessity for many families. Parents rely on them as a convenient means to communicate with their teenagers. Changing schedules and family emergencies are two examples of how they are frequently and properly used to interconnect parents, siblings and employers.
It has only been two years since the School Board lifted its ban on cell phones on school property, acknowledging that it was an impractical and largely unenforceable rule. But, just as changing times moved the board in that direction then, unforeseen advances in the technology now have demanded that the board tighten the rules to reflect those changes.
The rule change will require stepped-up enforcement by teachers and administrators when school reconvenes in August. However, parents must do their part by making sure their children are aware of the rules before school starts, and that they understand cell phones are not toys.
Students should be mature enough to handle the responsibility that comes with carrying a cell phone. Parents who are not certain their child meets that basic requirement should put that privilege on hold until they do.