[Homer]

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First off, are you a teacher? If not, I don't think you're qualified to make statements like students having cell phones = impossible to teach class.

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Yes, I taught HS the last two years.

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If kids are using phones in the middle of class, the cell phone is not the problem. The student is the problem. Maybe the teacher as well for not sending the kid to the office. Regardless, the student is a distraction and should be punished appropriately.

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Of course, the student is the problem. But perhaps the student wouldn't be as much of a problem if he wasn't allowed to bring his cell phone to school. Teachers do send kids to the office. This can easily waste 5 minutes per day, since half the time the kid resists and you have to call security to have to kid removed from class (probably not true at every school, but was the case at mine). I have real issues with precious class time being wasted because of an object for which the problems far outweigh the benefits.

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My school had two (luckily hoax) bomb threats called in. Kids that had cell phones on them were able to get their parents to come pick them up from where the school moved us to. An emergency situation like this is enough reason for me to allow a student to carry a phone on his or her person. And, in my opinion, a student's lunch period is their own time and they should be able to do with it as they please.

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I think this is a stretch. The school would be evacuated after a bomb threat, so the student would be in no immediate danger.

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In the same vein, I think it's OK in case of a family emergency. The student should have the cell phone off in class, but he/she can check his messages in between class/at lunch. Because if we're arguing about distractions, a parent calling the school and that kid being pulled out of a class IS distracting. Especially if the kid is told some awful news and has to come back in to get his/her crap and is obviously upset.

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I don't understand this. The parent can call the main office, who in turn calls the classroom. The teacher informs the student that the parent needs to get in touch with him and sends him to the office along with his belongings.

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Maybe I'm not emphasizing how much I agree with you that a student who disrupts class should be disciplined? I also don't agree with the notion that a ban on cell phones in school is going to somehow increase a student's concentration. If a kid is bored in math class, he still isn't going to pay attention because he doesn't have a cell phone to f around with. He's going to fall asleep or talk to his buddy or draw or stare at some girls. And he should be disciplined for it.

Ultimately, I think this all boils down to the fact that some kids lack any sort of respect for the teacher, the school, and other students. I think we can all agree on this?

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Right, we can all agree on this. The more I think about it, cell phone jammers are a long-term solution. That way kids could step outside during lunch to make a call or make calls during extenuating circumstances (such as bomb threats, etc).