Catch Me If You Can

There are two great rules in life, the one general and the other particular. The first rule is that everyone can, in the end, get what he wants if he only tries. The particular rule is that every individual is more or less an exception to the general rule.

-- Samuel Butler

What is it about human beings that we feel the need to break rules? If there is a rule against doing something we do it. If the rule is that we should do something, we find ways to avoid doing it. High school students especially, seem prone to this quirk. Why they feel the need, nay compulsion, to bring cell phones to class is beyond me. I will admit right off -- I don't have a cell phone. I did own one at one time, but I had no real need for it and got rid of it. In this age of high tech telecommunication I am a bit of a Luddite. I admit it. Most of my students, however, are not.

In our school the rule states 'cell phones are to be turned off and out of sight during class time'. If a student is caught with a cell phone out it (the phone, not the student) is to be taken to the office. If I had five dollars for every phone I have taken from students, I could make a car payment. No joke. In the last week alone I could have made $25. Twenty five dollars! Over the course of a month that's like having a low paying part-time job!

What really gets me is that they know the rule, they know the consequences and yet they still try and use them in class. The attitude is not one of "I should not do it because it is against the rule." The attitude is "I will continue to break the rule until you can catch me." There seems to be no regard for rules or simple respect for the person making the request. Did I bend rules when I was in school? Absolutely. But I knew how far I could go. I knew when to back off and do the work.

It is not only students who have this disrespect for the rules of the school. Parents expect to be able to text and even call their kids during class time! Not only do we have to try and keep students working and off the phone, but we have to deal with parents who apparently do not have the sense to not needlessly interfere in their children's education. I grieve for society. W hen a parent's own actions legitimize the urge to break the rules, what hope do the kids have?