RING Cellphones in class...

moongirl · Oct 7, 2006

thanks.. ! but my dad made it just fine! the cell phone notification was the best for me at the time, because the hospital is like 5 minutes from the college. Honestly, to have a secretary come into the lecture hall and annouce that she is looking for Moongirl to give a message to would be way more distracting than a quiet beep or buzz on my phone! ( they dont know us all, there are 70 of us in that room at one time!)

But yes, I do see your point. Everyone knows not to call me unless it is death or near death related. My kids have an emergency list of people to call for sickness, etc and I am the LAST number on the list. Dad, Gramma and the neighbor come way before mama!

BSNtobe2009 · Oct 7, 2006

My phone has a feature for "silence". That means it can stay on but doesn't vibrate or ring or make a sound when a message is left. That way when I leave class, I can see if someone called me while I am in class or I can discretely leave it on top of my purse, during times when my child is sick and concerned that I might be getting a call from home. I don't have to touch it.

We have a code for true, medical, someone-is-bleeding-type emergencies....they are to send me a text message with *911 after it, and that way I know I need to leave class immediately because I need to go home.

smk1, LPN · Oct 7, 2006

Rarely do we hear rings. I don't want to talk on my phone during class so it is off. I can't stand the students who are "know it alls", "I'm work as a CNA so I ALREADY know how to do blah blah blah", the "what does that mean, what does that mean, what does that mean students", the "professor so and so told us we could do it THIS way" students, the students who keep up a dull roar in the corner of the classroom giggling, the "oh my god, i would never want student _____ as my nurse!" students. (they need to grow up and realize not everyone is perfect, and forgetting how to open a drain and empty it after seeing it only one time should not be a career stopper). By the way this incident didn't happen to me, but I saw it and was appalled at the witchunt that followed. I have had a bad week and need to go to bed...

firstaiddave907 · Oct 7, 2006

That makes me very mad if you need to have your cell phone on put it on vibrate and put it in your bookbag or leave it in your car and during a break go out to your car a check the phone.

DawnFL · Oct 7, 2006

You obviously don't have kids.

tddowney · Oct 7, 2006

UHHHHHH! I have to vent! My ONE pet peeve during class is not the student who asks a zillion questions, the student who always knows someone with the condition that is being discussed, or the student that works somewhere that always performs interventions differently ....it is the student who REPEATEDLY forgets to shut of their #### cell phone! And during a test is the worst!
Our policy is that cell phones must be shut OFF and if yours rings you must immediately leave the classroom, and receive an absence for the day. However, I have never once seen them implement this action. It just irks me! And now they have started a new policy that NO phones can be used in the building, even on breaks because of the excessive ringing in class...but still they do nothing when it happens.

I've always thought when a phone rings in any inappropriate place, like a classroom or theater, any person can wrestle the phone from its owner and answer it however they like..........................................such as "Fred's Topless Bar," "Yo, Yo, where's my kiddie-Media photos" or just "*** do YOU want."

The phone's owner will soon find himself out of a job, locked out of the house, with the FBI on his tail.....................all well-deserved. :rolleyes:

jov · Oct 7, 2006

I'm sorry, but there is absolutely no emergency that cannot wait for the 1-2 hours a person is in class.

umm....let me guess, you DON'T have kids?

first of all, let me explain I am a minimal cell phone user. I use maybe 30 minutes a year? The only people who have my phone number are my husband, and the school. And my sister who is the second emergency contact at school. And what do you think happened last semester? You got it. My 2nd grader was knocked down in recess and received a radial fracture. So.... they called my husband but he was out of town on a fishing trip. So they called my nursing school number (which they are supposed to call first)...but it was during the lunch hour and the secretaries wouldn't answer the phone. So next... they called my cell phone. Darn glad I had it. Remember, that little ol' emergency also includes DRIVING back from school to wherever you need to be. And please don't tell me they could have called the ambulance. Please. No reason to traumatize a second grader like that... So hate to say it but cell phones are useful for emergencies. It's the rest of the bozo-chatters that screwed it up, not moms whose kids have emergencies! :rolleyes:

MySimplePlan · Oct 7, 2006

At our school, they ask you to kindly leave your phones in the car. Of course, nobody does, including me. I do leave mine on vibrate, and you can't hear it at all. I thought the rule was a little rigid.

Still - I learned my lesson this week for good. I have two big situations going on in my life right now. My cell vibrated during a break, and I took the call as I was out of the classroom. It was my kid's teacher, contacting me for a conference ASAP ( my daughter forged my name on a failed test) That shook me up for the rest of the class....I'm certain I didn't get a thing out of lecture after that. Now I know why the nursing department implemented the rule - it's for our own good.

During the lunch break that day, my sister called me about one of the big situations - it was getting worse. I was a gumby by then, and drove home dejectedly, worrying about everything. I decided right then and there I wasn't answering my stupid phone during school any longer. I am turning it OFF. I guess I had to answer that school call, but if it was a true emergency, they could have called someone else on our emergency card.

I've already told my family nursing school is #1 with me right now, and nothing will stop me from finishing. They'll have to deal without me during the day. I respect everyone else's opinion about their cellphones, but mine has changed regarding my own, largely due to my family's propensity to spread the bad news around. The thing stays off during class....not even on vibrate - beginning Monday.

smk1, LPN · Oct 7, 2006

You obviously don't have kids.

well i have one. People all over the world managed to raise their kids and keep tract of them before cellphones or pagers were in use. Cellphones have their place...and that place is not in your pocket turned on during any of the following: movies, in the middle of a doctors appointment, school, work (unless on break) or museums and theaters. What would you do if you were too poor to afford a cell phone? More than likely you would be just fine, and so would the kids.

Columnist · Oct 7, 2006

I find it amusing that two people have assumed that I must not have children simply because I believe a parent need not be at the beck and call of their children via cellphone 24/7. In fact, I have a stepdaughter (and please don't come back with "that's not the same as having your OWN child," because I am very close to my stepdaughter and feel she is my own child in the same sense an adoptive parent feels that way about her children) whom I raised in the days before that apron string we call the cellphone existed. Miraculously, my stepdaughter survived her childhood without feeling neglected or suffering any horrible psychological trauma despite the fact her parents were sometimes engaged in things that did not include her and things that were more important at the moment than her needs were.

And, Joy, I'm sorry about your child, but a broken arm is not an "emergency," as you should know if you are in clinicals yet. A simple radial fracture certainly can wait (up to several hours) before being treated. In fact, a broken arm in the emergency room = a 12-hour wait in triage. Nor would a ride in an ambulance necessarily traumatize a child. Heck, my grandson would think riding in an ambulance to be the best adventure ever! My point is, however, that your child's broken arm was not an emergency, and s/he could even have waited for a few hours in the school nurse's office until you could be reached. This is what happened in the "olden days" when I, myself, was a child, and it's what happened when my husband and I were raising his daughter.

Sure, it's nice when the school or whomever can call the parent on the cellphone to keep him/her instantly updated on circumstances involving the child. I don't deny that. But is it "necessary"? Absolutely not.

puggymae · Oct 7, 2006

This is from an instructors point of view - we do not allow cell phones to ring out loud during lecture - they can vibrate. If your cell phone rings out loud we stop class and tell you to leave. The second day of class someone's phone rang, they were told to leave, they left, and it has NOT happened a single time since. Other people are paying to hear the lecture and will not be subjected to that kind of distraction. During an exam they are not allowed in the classroom at all. Why? Because I don't know if you are using a calculator (not allowed) or if you have information stored in the phone or if you are receiving text messages. If you get your phone out during an exam and you are seen by the instuctor you get an automatic "zero" on that exam. If you have a sick child or feel the need to have the phone on... the phones can be left with the secretary who will answer them and relay a message in an emergency. We also do not allow cell phones at all in the clinical areas. There is a procedure in place to contact the student in an emergency through the instructor. And students are allowed to go to their car on their meal break if they need to use their phone. If a student has a cell phone out using it or looking at it in the clinical area or it rings in their bag (or whatever) that student is sent home with an unsatisfactory for the day. Why? We feel that you can't concentrate on what you are doing at clinical and what is going on else where at the same time. Also some students will not adhere to the facility policies of only using the phones in designated areas - no phones, no problem with that. I have been an instructor for 15 years - way before cell phones existed and students were always notified of true emergencies in a very timely fashion. Nobody wants to keep a person from attending to a true emergency - however some people do not know what a true emergency is. Your child being injured and needing medical attention is - your child calling to say that her brother ate the last HoHo is not.

jov · Oct 7, 2006

first of all, I think at 47, I can remember the olden days...before cell phones. Heck, I can even remember going to school without computers. But I clearly resent the insinuation that having a cell phone available means the same thing as an apron string.

And, Joy, I'm sorry about your child, but a broken arm is not an "emergency," as you should know if you are in clinicals yet.

My, my, my...do I detect a little arrogance here?

Umm so sorry to disagree. If it's not an emergency, why did the school call me? Uh... was she in PAIN? Was she in DISTRESS? Um...why did the insurance pay for the office visit to her MD as an EMERGENCY VISIT? And though I know you are enjoying your smug assessment of the situation with your little crack about "if you are in clinicals"...hate to burst your bubble. Yes, I am in clinicals. But I think I can safely say I already have a pretty good awareness of what constitutes an emergency since I have 7 years experence as a paramedic, including plenty of ambulance rides with distressed children and parents. Your grandson may think an ambulance ride is fun - o.k., let's try it after he's been extricated from a rollover, and has blood and glass in his face. Because, after all, that's not a TRUE EMERGENCY either. That can wait, right? The only reason he would get in right away is because I brought him in, in my rig.

The point is--- sitting through a lecture on inflammatory bowel does not trump trucking my little one into the pediatrician's for a decent splint and some pain control, and then over to the ortho...(note: did you see I SKIPPED the ER?)

I already indicated in my post I'm hardly a cell phone junkie. My kids are quite capable and independent. What I am also saying is I am an adult with responsibilities that continue to exist whether I am in a classroom or not. As the only available adult in this case, it was proper that I be notified IN A PROMPT FASHION and it was proper that I respond in a PROMPT FASHION. The cell phone accomplished both of those criteria.

**RING** Cellphones in class...

RING Cellphones in class...