What’s Your Take On This?

Did you hear the story about the teacher in Florida that was suspended without pay for taking action against students using cellphones in his classroom?

According to the Tampa Bay Times, Dean Liptak wasn't happy about the students in his high school science class using their cell phones, so he secretly switched on an electronic-jammer to prevent them from getting service to their phones.

According to the story,

In a letter admonishing the instructor, Superintendent Kurt Browning wrote, "Not only did your actions potentially violate federal law, you posed a serious risk to critical safety communications as well as the possibility of preventing others from making 9-1-1 calls."

Isn't the point of being in school, to learn?  For what reason do kids need to have their cellphones?

While I understand the safety aspect, but in this instance I have to say I agree with the teacher.  I suppose it may have been easier to institute a 'no cellphones allowed in class' policy, but I'm sure it's a frustrating aspect of being a teacher these days.

If you'd like to read the whole article you can find it HERE.

What do you think?  Was this guy in the wrong?  Is a suspension too severe?  I'm curious to see how you feel about it.  Drop me a line at chris.farber@townsquaremedia.com or shoot me a comment below!

~CMF