My daughter takes her phone to school (AMS). I told her it is off during the day. If it EVER gets taken up I will, begrudgingly, pay the fine and she doesn't get it back. Period. Rules are rules. She HAS to follow them whether we like them or not, she'll be dealing with rules she may not like her whole life. Apparently she can listen to music on Fridays in one class (with headphones if they've been good). Other than that it is to reach me after school. If she can't follow simple rules like "don't use your phone during school" then she doesn't need the responsibility of it. In case of a true emergency I'll gladly pay any fine incurred so she can reach me.

My 6th grader at AMS said some teachers let them take their phones out for school use.

If your children followed the rules their phones would not be taken, no one would be rifling thru them reading their texts and you would not be paying fines to get them back. Period.Put yourself in a teacher's position. They are in front of the class teaching and all the kids are texting. Then they blame the teachers because the kids are ignorant. Come on folks. Step up and be good parents.

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@blueyes: Exactly.But the going through other people's private data/emails/texts is way not cool. I don't care if the owner of the phone is 10 or 100.

and "rifling thru them reading their texts" may violate a students civil rights

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I wouldn't be surprised if at some point in the future, accessing personal email/texts will be a federal crime, like tampering with someone else's mail. It's kind of the new "mail," right?Of course, parents of minors would be excluded from that law.

not cool for school personnel to be reviewing phone content; apparently just confiscating the phone with no additional penalty didn't send a strong enough message; I agree budget/accounting/ school expenditures should be public record; but I also agree with school admin that walking in and requesting accountability when the new year is rolling out is asking a little much for a news media org.

The new policy at AHS is that students may have their phones out in the hallway, cafeteria, library, etc. but students may not have it out in classrooms unless it is a "green zone". There is a sign posted in the front of the room and it is either red or green. Unless a teacher gives you verbal permission, if the sign is red it has to be up.Pretty simple.

I think this is a good idea. I've never had to pay the fines because my kids know better and I raised them to respect the rules, whether they like them or not. If they get caught using their cell phone where they weren't suppose to then it's their fault and they deserve the fine. Cell phones are a distraction. Cell phones will still be confiscated at AHS, because the kids are more than likely going to use them for other purposes.

Why not $50 then if the purpose is income generation