Dear Principal of SCHOOL_NAME,

I believe policy one would be better for our school because sometimes the students, including myself, forget their lunch at home or forget to remind their parents that they have to stay after school hours. Many times, the teachers here do not let students use the school phone so they have no way of contacting their parents.

I understand that the staff must be frustrated with all the texting during class and I will admit that sometimes cell phone rings disrupt the class. I think this happens because the students are not allowed to have cell phones during times that they are not in class so they find their own way to use them.

Banning cell phones from school would be very unfair to those who always follow the rules and deserve the cell phone use. Many teachers respond to that with, "Well one bad apple ruins whole bunch," and that is not necessarily fair. We are a new generation and old sayings such as that one might be ready for an upgrade. Even if cell phones were banned, though, students would still carry them to and from school. I believe that is because students who get detentions regularly don't care if they get a few more for the sake of their cell phones.

Another reason for policy one is that Henry is a community middle school and even though the emphasis is on "school" for me, for others the emphasis is on "community" so having the freedom to have phones during passing periods and lunch might help keep some students more focused during class. Isn't that what all teachers want? The more focused they are, the more likely they are to pull up their grades and go to college and end up with a life full of success.

Even though it doesn't seem likely that cell phones could possibly change a good chunk of the student body, they can. The more freedom we, being the students, are granted, the more we are going to compromise with the teachers and try harder during class. So I truly believe that cell phone use during times that we are not in class would be a better choice that to not be able to have them at all. After all, if teachers are allowed to use them at all times, shouldn't the students at least get to use them when we are not required to be in a class?