Cell phones in school & mobile access to social network sites

[Dianne C. Tillman]

Do any of your schools ban student cell phones on school property? Specifically, do you ban not just cell phone use by students but student possession of a cell phone in school? As we all know, students with cell phones can (and are) accessing social networking sites like Facebook while at school despite our best efforts to monitor the students. Any ideas on how to combat this?

[Brian Norman]

No, we do not ban cell phones on school property. Students are allowed to use them before and after school and during lunch. Here is a copy of our policy (take notice of the parent pick-up requirement, this has made a HUGE difference).

CELL PHONES
Cell phones may be used only before and after school and during lunch. At no time
should a cell phone be in any classroom during the school day. Cell phones should
be secured in the students’ locker during the school day (with the exception of
lunch time). Cell phones will be confiscated if they are found to be in any classroom
during the school day or in use at any time other than stated above. Confiscated cell
phones will be returned to the student at the end of the day the first time confiscated.
Each time the cell phone is confiscated, after the first offense, it must be picked up by
the student’s parent or guardian. Cell phones/camera phones may not be used in locker
rooms or rest rooms at any time.

[Maureen Moris]

Here are our policies so far .... something new is always popping up ....

Cell phones can only be used in the entryway in front of the office during specific times (lunch, before and after school) otherwise, they must be off and in a locker. If teachers/staff see cellphones elsewhere (on or off - ringing in a locker), we are instructed to take them away and turn them into the office. 1st offense- no phone for the day. 2nd offense -principal holds the phone for a week and it must be picked up by a parent. 3rd offense - the phone is kept by the principal until the end of the school year (explained when parents come in after 2nd offense). This is the second year of the policy and no one has had a 3rd offense.

Handhelds used in the building by anyone can still only access the internet through the Sonic Wall ... so, the social networking sites/email/etc... are blocked and not available. We are working on a way to make the wireless network only accessible with a password to further restrict use/unauthorized access to the school network.

We currently ban all personal laptops (staff and student) from connecting to the network.

[Dianne C. Tillman]

The problem is that cell phones do not go through the school network hence they are not effected by the sonic wall, they use a cell phone signal and if you have the mobile app on your cell phone you can post to and access Facebook and Twitter, etc. using a cell phone.
Our school policy is about the same as the ones posted here. I was just wondering how you keep students from accessing social networking sites using their phones (for example during lunch time when they are allowed to use them.)
Thanks for your input!

Maureen Moris said:

Here are our policies so far .... something new is always popping up ....
Cell phones can only be used in the entryway in front of the office during specific times (lunch, before and after school) otherwise, they must be off and in a locker. If teachers/staff see cellphones elsewhere (on or off - ringing in a locker), we are instructed to take them away and turn them into the office. 1st offense- no phone for the day. 2nd offense -principal holds the phone for a week and it must be picked up by a parent. 3rd offense - the phone is kept by the principal until the end of the school year (explained when parents come in after 2nd offense). This is the second year of the policy and no one has had a 3rd offense.
Handhelds used in the building by anyone can still only access the internet through the Sonic Wall ... so, the social networking sites/email/etc... are blocked and not available. We are working on a way to make the wireless network only accessible with a password to further restrict use/unauthorized access to the school network.

We currently ban all personal laptops (staff and student) from connecting to the network.