Parents Beware-Allowing your child to bring their cell phone to school in District 68 can be an expensive lesson.

My daughter attends Jefferson Jr. High in Woodridge. Recently, one of her friends was communicating by text with her Dad in the hallway between classes when a teacher took her Apple iPhone from her. The teacher turned it over to the school office but sometime before doing that she dropped it breaking both the case and fracturing the screen. This is the second incident with the same teacher breaking a students phone I am told. The office returned the phone to her friend simply saying "We're Sorry". 

The District 68 information handbook states:

ELECTRONIC DEVICES The possession and use of cell phones and other electronic devices, other than paging devices and two-way radios, are subject to the following rules:They must  be kept out of sight and in an inconspicuous location, such as a backpack, purse, or locker.  They must be turned off during the regular school day. They may not be used in any manner that will cause disruption to the educational environment or will otherwise violate student conduct rules.

There is nothing in their handbook that indicates a phone will be removed from the students. Most of our children have smart phones now. My daughters phone cost $799 without a contract and it is only the base model iPhone5 16GB. District 68 may have the right to restrict the use of electronic devices but they should not be taking phones away from students if they are not assuming liability while it is in their care, custody and control. If my daughter damages a textbook, she is responsible for the cost. To quote the handbook again: "Pupils are responsible for the care of all textbooks. Fines are assessed by the principals for those books which are damaged". Why is District 68 not responsible for damage when the situtation is reversed? 

When my daughter was attending Meadowview, her Firefly phone was taken from her when it fell out of her pocket one day. She was not using it. To get it back I had to go into the school office and ask for it. I happened to be running late that day and was unable to communicate with my daughter so she stood outside the school wondering what to do. In today's world where an individual attempted to abduct a child just last week around Edgewood School, this further cements that a phone should never be taken away from a child. Find another way of dealing with any abuse.