Student cell phone policy unfair to AHS students




Student cell phone policy unfair
to AHS students


As a senior at Agoura High School, this letter is to express my opinion about the cell phone issue on all Las Virgenes Unified School District (LVUSD) school campuses. Events such as Sept.11, Columbine, other school shootings, and natural disasters (including earthquakes and fires) have shown that it is important for students to be able to contact family and friends in case of an emergency. Should one of these events occur, it is almost impossible for the parents or legal guardians to get in touch with their children and ensure that they are safe, as it was for my parents when I was a student at A.E. Wright during the 1996 wildfire.


Additionally, I feel that it is important for students to have access to a phone for personal emergencies.


For example, if students have to make up an exam, stay after class, miss their bus/carpool, they should be able to have easy access to call and notify the person responsible for them.


I understand that there are pay phones and office phones that students are allowed to use. However, in certain situations, these are not always convenient. Students do not always have 35 cents to make a phone call and after-school practices often run much later than school office hours. Therefore, a student does not have access to either of those phones.


Having easy access to a phone is also a safety issue. Even though both Agoura and Calabasas are considered safe cities, with all the recent kidnappings and school attacks, who is to say what cities are and aren’t safe anymore?


I understand that cell phones can cause classroom disruptions, yet I don’t understand why cell phones are banned from the school altogether. Cell phone use during nutrition and lunch periods, as well as after-school activities, does not cause disruption.


Instead of banning cell phones completely, the school should require them to be turned off while in class. If a cell phone is not turned off during a class period, I feel that the teacher or school official has the right to confiscate it. However, I do not believe that a school official should have the right to confiscate the cell phone if there has been no disruption.


As of Aug. 14, 2002 both houses of the legislature passed Senate Bill 1253, which gives school districts the discretion to allow students to carry cell phones. This measure gives parents one more tool to keep their children safe. I hope that LVUSD Superintendent Dr. John Fitzpatrick will reconsider this issue.


Natalie Feller


Calabasas Hills



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