Tech-related disciplinary offenses rise in Chesterfield schools
Published: June 27, 2009
Virginia Department of Education:
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Disciplinary offenses involving electronic devices and the Internet nearly doubled at Chesterfield County schools from the 2007-08 school year to the 2008-09 school year, according to a new report.
The Chesterfield school system discipline report shows that the county's 64 schools reported a total of 19,291 disciplinary violations, compared with 18,574 the previous year.
Of those, 800 of the violations were related to technology offenses, compared with 448 the previous year, according to the report. In addition to the misuse of personal gadgets and the Internet in schools, violations include damaging school computers and software.
The 2008-09 reports from Richmond, Henrico and Hanover counties were not available. They are due July 31 to the Virginia Department of Education.
Dealing with students' use of cell phones, video games, iPods and other devices has increasingly become a time-consuming issue, Chesterfield school administrators say. Educators are also wondering if they should integrate these devices into instruction rather than keep restricting or banning them from schools.
Chesterfield school policy states that cell phones, iPods, beepers and other electronic devices must be turned off and out of sight during school hours. If students violate this rule, the devices are confiscated.
Marcus J. Newsome, school superintendent, said it's challenging to keep up with technology. "Even with the ethical issues we have struggled with as a nation because the technology is moving so fast," he said.
And in addition to the ethical issues, there are the legal issues educators have to grapple with too, said School Board member David Wyman.
"Some students are using the tools for 'sexting,'" he said, referring to sending nude or semi-nude pictures via cell phones. "We have to work some of the legal issues related to technology use within the school environment. We, as well as others, have fallen behind as far as matching the policy with the new uses of technology."
U. Omarh Rajah, another Chesterfield School Board member, said he was alarmed by the technology violation statistics, and he's concerned about sexting.
"We need to have something to curtail the sexting and the phone issues related to school," he said. "I feel that we need to take a harsher stand on those who are violating or repeated violators. The sexting issue needs to be addressed appropriately, but forcefully."
Rajah said he believes the school system needs to make parents liable in sexting situations because their children are underage.
Prosecutors have been reluctant to bring charges in alleged sexting cases at Moody Middle School in Henrico County, where authorities found nude photos of students on portable computer drives last month.
Hanover and Chesterfield county authorities have investigated cases of teenage girls sharing pictures of themselves partially naked or nude, but no charges have been filed. Rajah said the Chesterfield School Board needs to adopt a policy addressing sexting, but the first step is to meet with the public and area commonwealth's attorneys to talk about how state law applies to sexting.
"A policy is no good if you can't get punishment authority," he said. "We need to have the backing of the commonwealth attorney. What I've seen is that no one wants to take a case on."
At least once a week, a cell phone goes off during class or lecture, said Kyle Palentino, who just graduated from Monacan High School in Chesterfield. It's common practice for students, including him, to set the phones to silence or vibrate, he said.
Some teachers strictly enforce the rules, but others are more lax, he added.
"The school is a learning environment," he said. "Cell phones can hinder learning, but it's also a tool used for emergencies. Maybe the policy can reflect that."
Pete Koste, principal at Chesterfield's Manchester High School, said there's no emergency the school can't handle and calls the cell-phone issue "a necessary inconvenience."
"The biggest issue we have is people texting each other during the day," he said.
Constant communication through cell phones is a way of life now, Koste said. The question is whether that technology fits in with instruction in the schools, he said.
"If used responsibly, it can be helpful."
Contact Juan Antonio Lizama at (804) 649-6513 or
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Reader Reactions
Interested Read,
All that I can say is AMEN!
I agree with Interesting Read…PARENTS NEED TO WAKE UP!!
Parents need to be a parent…not a friend.
This is exactly why kids are doing poorly in schools—too infatuated with techno gear rather than books and learning.
Why? These kids think it’s NORMAL to have this stuff—cell phone, PDA, iPod in the classrooms, but they forget their laptops or books for class use. Only until the parents put their foot down to these kids will we see any improvement. Don’t hold your breath. These are same parents who nearly run into you texting or using the cell phone going 65 mph on the expressway or city/county street or absentmindedly going about their cell conversation with gusto in the grocery store, dr’s office, office at work, walking down the street oblivious to cars or bicycles or pedestrians.
WAKE UP PARENTS, YOU ARE THE CAUSE OF THIS AND IT’S YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO SEE TO IT THAT YOUR CHILD BEHAVES, WHETHER 5 OR 18!
teacher, I think the school systems have a Jekyl and Hyde personality. What you are saying is true in upper middle class schools, where teachers are fearful of parents who have more clout and can afford to hire a lawyer. I have heard teachers in these schools walk on pins and needles, afraid they will provoke the ire of parents. On the other hand, I am seeing the opposite in “poor” schools with high minority populations. Parents in these schools, since they do not pay much, if anything, in the way of property taxes (which fund the school system) are habitually bullied by teachers and school officials when they express concerns for quality of instruction or student achievement. It is my experience, that in these poorer schools, the school operates as a fascist regime, suppressing any and all criticism and retaliating against students whose parents try to be involved. Many teachers are bullies in these schools, verbally abusing students in front of the entire class, doling out office referrals for the most trivial offenses, never developing any sort of positive relationship with students, and berating them in all sorts of unethical ways - such as bad grades, calling them “stupid”, marking their papers with bullying remarks, even striking students, etc. Students with disabilities, in particular, are subjected to humiliating, deragatory statements (some profanity) and discrimination and abuse, neglect, restraint, and seclusion. There really should be a category on the Discipline report for TEACHER BULLYING!
There is another side to this. In Henrico and Chesterfield schools, there is an unacceptable degree of racism in some schools - double standards for minority populations. We must speak out against this whenever we encounter it. The good teachers do speak out and then the seem to lose their jobs because of it. So now we have schools that are filled with personnel who turn a blind eye, a shameful practice, for fear of losing their jobs!
It is amazing the lack of nerve our school officials have. Litigation fears drive every move— I teach in Henrico County, my principal does NOTHING to punish students, even in serious cases she is very lenient, afraid of public reaction. No rules are enforced, not the code of conduct, not dress code, not weapons. Because violations are reported, she won’t make a record, or punish the offenders- keeping it all quiet. No wonder kids grow up believing they can do what they want, have what they want and have no idea of the responsibilities that go along with adult hood. Kids can sit in class and text the test questions to their friends- answer quesitons from friends taking a test and nothing is done to prevent it. Teachrs who try to follow the rules and send kids to an administrator are deemed to have weak classroom management skills, so kids just keep getting away with it. We are scared of the kids, the press and our own superintendent. Teacher-HCPS
Cell phones during instruction??
Ban them, if they go off they should be confiscated.
I do not think Chesterfield has the stomach for the fight.
Robo
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