Teachers and Cell Phones?

Question

Isn't it illegal for a teacher to take away a students cell phone in class since Septmeber 11th?? Are there any laws against it??

Answer 1

No.  It has nothing to do with Sept 11.  If your school bans cell phones or your teacher told you not to use them, and you do anyway, they can take it away.  There's no reason for you to be using a cell phone during school.  No good reason, at least.  Plenty of distracting and stupid reasons though.

Answer 2

If a teacher took a cell phone from a student, I would want the teacher to return it at the end of the school day.  

Since cell phones are pretty cheap nowadays, students can just get the cell phone deactivated and get a new one - teachers are just wasting their time.

Answer 3

The State of New York just finished up a State Supreme Court case on this issue.  The ruling was that school districts are allowed to ban cell phones from schools completely, and are allowed to confiscate any phones that are brought in.

Sorry, legally, the teacher can take it and turn it in to the office, from there it is up to the principal or school district what happens to it.

Answer 4

if the school district has a rule that bans cell phones then it is not illegal for a teacher to take it and hold it until the end of the term...

Answer 5

No, it is not illegal.  Check your school board's policy on student cell phone usage.  This varies from state to state, but I don't think you will find any public school that allows students to use cell phones in class.

Answer 6

How did your teacher know about the cell phone in the first place? If you were using a cell phone in class then the teacher had every right to take it away.