Warren Twp. High students get to keep their cell phones

Policy and reality clash when it comes to wireless telephone use at Warren Township High School in Gurnee.

But instead of a hard-line approach, Warren District 121 officials will push a cell phone etiquette campaign next school year in an effort to ensure policy wins out at the Almond Road campus for upperclassmen and the O'Plaine Road freshmen-sophomore building.

School board member Charles Crowley Jr. said it's better to prod students into following the rules than to alter policy and add restrictions.

"We do not want to have a policy that cannot be enforced," Crowley said.

Under District 121's policy governing electronic devices, students may bring cell phones to school provided they are turned off and out of view. The phones can't even be used during lunch, hallway passing periods or on a bus heading to school.

Concerns from school officials surfaced this year over the reality of students ignoring the policy. A special school board committee had considered requiring the devices be left in lockers.

Through the cell phone etiquette initiative, students will be reminded to turn off phones and not to send text messages in class. Plans call for classroom posters to help deliver the message.

Consequences for mobile misuse will be made clear. Warren's policy calls for two detentions for the first offense, with a one-day out-of-school suspension for the second violation.

Junior Carly Kroll said the initiative, if successful, will help teenagers develop good cell phone habits. She said students need to know when they are older that it might not be acceptable to have a wireless telephone ring in the middle of a work meeting.

Kroll, who served on the special committee that examined the issue, said she's seen plenty of text messaging in classes.

"That's a huge problem, because kids can text under their desk and not even look at it," she said.

Some District 121 board members preferred mandating cell phones be kept in lockers. Among them was Larry Stried, who said some studies show cell phone use can be addictive.

Another board member, Richard Conley, said the gentle approach isn't guaranteed to last.

"I'm willing to make this attempt, but if we continue to have problems, I'd support having them (phones) locked in their lockers," Conley said.

Assistant Superintendent Mary Perry-Bates recommended against forcing students to keep cell phones in lockers. She said teachers agreed and expressed concern about confrontations with students seen with phones in their pockets.

"What we heard from the teachers is they want to teach, not be the cell phone police," Perry-Bates said.