To whom it may concern,

I believe that students should not be allowed to bring phones to school at all due to the fact that they can be distracting, they can be lost or stolen and can be used to start trouble.

Cell phones can be distracting during class. If a student forgets to turn their phone on silent or off it could go off during class and distract other students from their class work or test. Another way cell phones are distracting is that a student could show other students a funny text message or photo they received.

Most students carry their cell phone in their pocket or purse. When a student walks or engages in some physical activity the cell phone could fall out of their pocket without them realizing that this has happened. A student could leave their purse unattended, and someone could go through their purse and steal the cell phone without anyone noticing because the purse is left unattended. The school will be blamed that their cell phone has been stolen or gone missing. It will then be the schools responsibility to replace or find that cell phone.

Most phones have camera and or access to social networking sites these days. Students could use these features to harass someone. Someone could send a picture of another student around the whole school or they could post things about someone over the internet on their phone. They could also text someone things that could hurt a person's feelings. This is called cyber-bullying.

Others might think that cell phones are a great way to communicate and keep in touch with other students or family. They may also think that since cell phones are turned off during class that nothing can happen. They may also think that student's wouldn't harass someone in such a way.

On the other hand i feel as if cell phones do not belong in a learning environment. The school could be held responsible for a student's lost or stolen cell phone. Students could cyber bully a student through text messaging and photos. Cell phones can also go off in class and distract other students from their work.