Schools outlaw electronic gadgets in name of safety

[CBC News]

Cellphones, MP3 players and cameras are being banned in some Canadian classrooms this fall, a decision school administrators say was spurred by concerns about safety, cheating and bullying.
Lynn Farmakoulas, principal of Fundy High School in St. George, N.B., has issued a sweeping ban on all electronic gear at her school in the name of security.
"We're trying to make this a safe place for everybody," she said.
Farmakoulas said if a teacher finds a student with a prohibited gadget, parents will be called to the school.
"I know we've had two meetings already with parents today that their children lost their cellphones, and they came in and they also picked up their child," she said. "They'll come back tomorrow without their cellphone or their MP3 or iPod hopefully."
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Does this go too far? What limits if any would you suggest?


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[Philo Cojones]

I can see these things not being allowed in the classroom, but why not in the school?

see a cell phone, MP# player, etc... in the class, take it away. simple as that. you get it back at the end of the school day. there's no need for them in class.

 

[YoungJoonKim]

Do you have any idea what kind of influence for these "amazing gadgets" being near and in school?
Peer is one of the most influencing figures to an individual and when they see their friends getting iPod and cellphone, etc, they WILL get these. If they can't (poor, no cash, and not allowed), they will either steal or nag their parents for it.
When I am in school, ALL the kids have iPod, even the high standing students. Yes, this is like a disease. iPod (MP3) and cellphone is UNNECESSARY gadgets in school. Perhaps it works in college or university, it doesn't work in high school because they are not taught with such gadgets.

Oh geez, students with cellphone is silly. Most of them will just use them for text messaging and talking with their friends when they can do that in home for less price.
Consume consume consume, when will teenagers stop spending and starting saving?
(I don't have iPod or MP3 player, I borrow it from my sister on bus hehe. I do have laptop though, I had to suck some cash out of my father oversea since he left us)