Well the little bastards are at it again. Students now have a new ring tone available for their little culture destroying cell phones that many adults can’t hear, according to a CBS news story. The ring tone is so high pitched that many older people can’t hear it due to natural hearing loss associated with age. The ring tone enables students to receive calls or text messages at times when school or classroom rules do not allow it. I suppose theoretically it could be an aid in cheating during a quiz or test.
On CBS’s web page there is a sample of the ring tone allowing one to see whether or not they can hear it. Surprisingly for me, I was able to hear the tone, even with my computer’s speakers turned down significantly. Of course, this was done in my office at home with no other background noise to drown out the high pitched tone. In a typical classroom setting I don’t think I’d be able to hear it at all, even at close range. In fact, I doubt I’d be able to hear it even if the room was silent, like during a test for example.
Now I’m actually not too upset by this development. If a teacher is doing what they are supposed to be doing, there should be few occaisions when a student would be able to get away with having a cell phone out for very long in class. I doubt a student would be able to get away with sending a text message in my class without me knowing it. It is possible that one could surreptitiously receive a message or two once in a while during class or a test, but this doesn’t bother me either. They’ll get caught eventually, and even if they don’t no real harm can be done. The bottom line is that if a student is determined to cheat on a test, then they will find a way to cheat, and if they are simply receiving a message from a friend, then this is not that much different from passing a note the old fashioned way. Personally, I find a well hidden crib sheet to be more useful for cheating, and I think an intricately folded and then secretly passed note is more intruiging and fun than a text message on a cell phone. The kids may have new technology that can foil some teachers, but I just hope they learn the basics, like good old fashioned note passing, first.