What is Proper Cell Phone Etiquette?

ATTENTION ALL PARENTS!
Cell Phone Concern:
We need your help to eliminate cell phone use during the school day. The use (and then confiscation) of cell phones has become a major distraction in the classroom, which in turn, interferes with the teaching and learning process. I realize how important it is as a parent to be in communication with your child, and the convenience cell phones bring. However, the use of cell phones during the school day is not only a distraction, it is prohibited by the Marquette Area Public Schools Board Policy 5136.

––Notice sent home to parents from Marquette Senior High School Principal Bob Anthony

It’s obvious to anyone that cell phones have become more common in society. According to Pew Internet Research, 45 percent of 12 to 17-year-olds own cell phones. It has also become more common to have younger and younger kids getting cell phones. As with other things that have quickly become common, there are problems that need to be dealt with. One of the perceived problems is the different ways older and younger people use cell phones. To adults, it may seem that people in their twenties and younger are using their cell phones way too much. The younger people may disagree or feel that it does not matter.

Kelly Tyburski of Marquette has not allowed her son Kyle, who is twelve, to have a cell phone. She believes that younger people use cell phones more than adults do and perhaps too casually.

“I think when adults are using the cell phones they’re using them to call home or they’re calling for a purpose,” she said. “I think when children are using cell phones they might be calling somebody who’s right down the street or they may be calling someone who’s standing within a few feet of them…so I think it’s more of a novelty for kids to use cell phones.”

Kyle admits that adults seem to be more practical about cell phone use.

“Teenagers just use them to talk to their friends anytime they want to and adults normally just use it when they really need to use it, like in emergencies and stuff,” He said.

Kim Jameson of Marquette, a mother of three, sees teenagers using cell phones all of the time, either texting or talking on them. She feels that her generation uses them because they really need to get a hold of someone, rather than on a whim. The heavy use of cell phones in her children causes her to have some other concerns.

“I am a little worried about the talk about cell phones and microwaves and how the excessive use of cell phones can cause brain tumors…especially in children who have a thinner skull,” she said. “That’s a little worrying to me and I would be happy to see more research on that. Especially when I see my cell phone bill and I see my daughter has been on there for 2,000 minutes and I’ve been on for 50.”

Some say that youth are at a greater risk because they use their cell phones while doing other things. James Yelland, thirteen, of Marquette, said he has witnessed as many as a dozen people (in their) late teens or early 20’s who were paying more attention to who they were talking to on their cell phone rather than what they were doing.

“I would say that the older people may be a bit more cautious about when they use their cell phones,” Yelland said.

The use of cell phones in schools is a constant battle between adults and youth. The announcement at the start of this story is an example of how cell phones are being regulated at schools. Under the MAPS district rules, cell phones are not to be used during school hours and are to be kept in student’s lockers when at school.

Mickey Sanders, fifteen, of Marquette, thinks that this should change

“I think we should be able to use them at lunch…as long as you’re not using them during class…but in between classes and at lunch you should be able to use them,” He said.

Some kids feel differently. Kaitlyn Riesland, fourteen, of Marquette, believes that rules on cell phones at school prepares them for rules they may have to follow in their future work place.

“I think that cell phones shouldn’t be allowed at movies and at school, or at workplaces because it cuts into your business time,” she said.

Dan Gannon, the assistant principal of Bothwell Middle School in Marquette, explains the punishment for cell phone use at school.

“We see it, we take it away,” he said. “I actually have a list in my office. I’ve got about 15 or 16 names right now, I take them until the end of the day and then they get them from me when they leave. That’s the first time. Second time, I hang onto it and a parent has to come in and pick it up and I talk to the parents at the time and I tell them that if I get it a third time they don’t get it back until the end of the school year. So it three strikes and you’re out.”

While Gannon has to deal with youth and cell phones as assistant principal, he also is a parent of two teenagers––one of which has a cell phone. His fifteen-year-old son got a cell phone last January. His phone is on a plan with no texting and limited minutes shared with his parents. According to Gannon, if his son goes over his limit he has to pay for his minutes. Meanwhile, his younger son doesn’t get a cell phone until he is fifteen, if he needs one, he borrows his parents.

Jameson also keeps a close eye on how her two teenage kids use their phones.

“I monitor their use by looking at the bill every month to see what time they’re calling, who they’re calling, that type of thing,” she said. “I know they’re not using them during school and at night they plug them in in the kitchen so I know they’re not using them at night when they go to bed.”

Riesland has rules on how she can use her cell phone. Her parents let her use it until 9:00 at night and she can only use a certain amount of minutes every month. After her minutes are used up she can’t use her cell phone any more.

Most parents don’t like their children talking or texting on their cell phones while driving. Most kids agreed that young drivers can be distracted by using their cell phone while on the road.

Sanders said that he has been in some scary situations.

“Definitely, I mean I’ve been riding with friends and they’ve been texting and I’ve taken over and started driving for them because I just don’t feel safe,” he said.

Yelland agreed that cell phones and cars can be a dangerous combination.

“It can be kind of dangerous for you and for anyone else around you because you could be paying more attention to who you are talking to than what you’re doing at the moment––so you could have a major accident,” he said.

What are some pet peeves that people have about cell phone use? Driving while using a cell phone is what annoys Kelly Tyburski the most.

“My biggest pet peeve is people driving and using their cell phones at the same time because I think their concentration is more on their phone call than on their driving,” she said. “It’s the same thing as trying to tune your radio station while you’re driving––you should be driving.”

Kyle Tyburski doesn’t want your phone to ring in a movie theater.

“I don’t like it when they have them at the movies because when people are trying to watch a movie and it starts going off it’s really annoying when they’re talking,” he said.

Riesland agrees that a movie theater is the worse place to use a cell phone.

“Yes, I have a pet peeve about people using cell phones in movie theaters because when you’re sitting there and somebody else is talking on their cell phone behind you it can get really annoying after a while,” she said.

Jameson, meanwhile, has a gripe related to cell phone use that most young people do not share.

“I do think it’s rude when you’re with someone and then their phone rings and they start talking,” she said.

As cell phones become more popular, we will have to confront the ways people use them and how and where people use them. With a younger generation that is more dependent on cell phones, and with new technology being developed ever year, who knows where the issue could go next.

Editor’s Note: This story was written by Eric Wagner, 14, and Dennis Bao, 11.