Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} Admit it: we’ve all, at one point or another, been the kid hiding our phones under the desk, in a purse or in a pocket in order to answer a text message. A good majority of students just might sell their souls in exchange for their phones. Here at Freedom, teachers are, for the most part, lenient with cell phones. We can usually have them out when we are working independently or have down time once all of our work is done. At one Beaver County school, though, things are different. This year, all cell phones at this nearby school are banned. Imagine being suspended because you felt the need to pull out your cell phone. Of course, every student would use the trusty old “I was texting my parents” excuse. Honestly though, how often do high school students really text their mothers? I can’t imagine Freedom ever banning cell phones. It seems as though that is one battle that just really isn’t worth fighting. Personally, I know I never leave my house without my phone. I would imagine ninety nine percent of my school is the same way. How would the school successfully collect every phone entering through the doors every morning? Yes, students are going to continually sneak texts in class. Teachers everywhere should take the approach of keeping students too busy to even think about texting than giving us time to be bored enough to. This may seem too simple, but I know that in some of my classes, no one has time to worry about their phones because we are kept busy. The school that banned phones is going to have its hands full with dealing with every student’s phone every day. Banning cell phones really just is not worth the time or effort it will take to continually enforce that; there have to be other things that need taken care of besides something that trivial.