I think the equivalent for a teenager in school there would be zero tolerance to be on a phone while operating a motor vehicle. 
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Not many jobs allow cell phone use during working hours. Granted there are jobs like Shamrock’s, where you need the phone for work related issues. Or my son-in-law, who was a mobile technician, who needed to keep in contact with his dispatcher. There’s probably many more. My point is cell phone use during working hours should not be allowed otherwise. I’m a retired grocery store butcher, I can’t imagine the distraction of a cell phone on the job. That could have cost me a finger or a hand. However my job allowed me to have a knife in my hand most of the day.
In one of the stores that I worked in, one of the stockboys was going on a coffee break and pulled his cell out before he got to the breakroom, there happened to be a district supervisor there at the time and saw him, he fired him on the spot. They had a strict no cellphone during working hours or on the sales floor policy.
I’m sure some people wouldn’t mind if the waitress at their favorite restaurant would be talking on the phone while taking their order, or if the cashier at the hardware store were to be on the phone while ringing up their purchase. I would mind. Or how about if the dentist or hygienist were on the phone while working on their teeth. I could go on.
So back to my point about preparing kids for the real world.
No cellphones during school hours (unless there is an emergency).
No cell phones during class or in the gym, or the locker room, or the washroom.
This kid taking pictures at this school should be disciplined, and not just a liberal slap on the hand.
So, if a person is using a cellphone at work for non-work related issues, while being paid to do a job, in essence isn’t he actually stealing from his employer. Time that a person is being paid to perform a job, not performing that job, but gabbing on their phone instead.
I rest my case.
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I agree with this to a point. It is annoying being in a retail store and waiting for the associate to finish watching a YouTube video (more likely TikTok these days I guess) or texting a friend so you can get your question answered. Though they often don’t know the answer anyways:(
But I recall the days before cell phones when workers would get a call on their work phone from their spouse or kids asking them to pick up something on their way home from work, meet them someplace, or even just share an exciting piece of news. Don’t remember anyone getting fired for one of those calls. There also used to be and still are all those “water cooler” conversations which help build camaraderie and team work. People aren’t automatons that can focus 100% of their attention on work 100% of the time. That just burns people out.
I don’t think outright bans are necessary for most work environments. Answering a personal call when you have a free moment isn’t an issue for most jobs as long as you don’t let it get in the way of completing your duties effectively and efficiently.
Many people are expected to work very long hours and have little opportunity to take care of the personal responsibilities during off hours when most other businesses are closed. Sometimes you have to make a call during work hours to schedule a doctor appointment or home repair, etc. If you can’t keep up with personal obligations then you are unlikely to be able to focus effectively on work obligations. Yes sometimes you can do this during an official break but if you don’t have time to relax and eat then you aren’t going to be working efficiently afterword.
The key is knowing when you need to be focused on work and respectful of those around you and when you can take a quick moment to deal with other aspects of life. I’ve seen some people who can work full speed while taking a personal call and others who can’t get anything done right even if they aren’t looking at their phone or talking with a coworker.
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Good point
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Your points are valid as well. People definitely need to learn to use phones responsibly and not let them interfere with work, school and personal life.
But as we see with alcohol, firearms or pretty much anything else outright bans rarely, if ever, solve the underlying problems.
It will be interesting to see if society can learn to maintain balance with all the destabilizing influences that rapidly advancing technology is throwing at us.
I certainly struggle with this as well. There are times I would like to leave the temptations of technological distractions behind and just take a walk in the woods like I used to completely free of tethers to civilization. But with my previous completely out of the blue health issue I’m reluctant to leave behind the ability to call for help if I have another unexpected issue. Technology can have great benefits and costs.
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I know there are some settings for phones that allow you to restrict use while driving.
When my son gets to driving age I’ll have to look into those. I don’t mind him playing music or using a map app to navigate but certainly don’t want him texting and driving.
Of course at the rate of current technological advances instead of an IPhone he will probably have his eyes replaced with IEyes that give him a heads up display so he can read texts while watching the scenery go by as his self driving car takes him wherever he needs to go. Assuming AI hasn’t determined humans to be an existential threat and wiped us all out by then.
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IEyes----I wouldn’t doubt it.
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Friends of mine got so fed up with schools here in the US, AZ, that they are finishing up their daughters school years back home in Italy.
15 students per classroom and cell phones are taken away at the entrance and given back at the end of day.
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I get paid a salary. I get no overtime. I take work home repeatedly. Today, I got to work at 7:30 a.m. and will work until after 9 p.m. tonight. I’m eating dinner now. By your logic, is my employer stealing from me when I take work home? How about when I use my personal internet connection that I pay for, personal printer, paper, ink, etc.? What about when I use my personal vehicle for my job and don’t get reimbursed? Objectively, I can’t track it all so I will never truly know if it balances out. But the lines between work and personal times are awfully blurry sometimes. Every vacation I take my boss calls me for something. More theft of me and my time? Nah. It’s a part of life.
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My teenage kids have phones. They are my phones. I let them use it. They are filtered and monitored with special software/apps. My son’s phone sends every text message he sends or receives to another device that he does not have the password to. I can review it at any time.
My kids are not on social media. My daughter uses my wife’s Pinterest account as her only social media.
We have to teach kids responsible technology use. It’s a battle. But it’s part of parenting.
Some resources are Protect Young Eyes and Bark. Plenty of other services out there.
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Employee of the Month? 
Edit;
Parent of the Month, also? 
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Hardly. =)
Where I work, work goes home at the end of the day and on weekends. It’s just a part of the job. But we don’t get fussed at for taking a personal call or anything like that.
Just trying to keep my kids on the straight and narrow. Not sure how well I’m doing. But I’m trying!
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@Karacal I agree with his phone philosophy. Maybe you’ve seen this one too.
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Well actually it’s the
Job that you do. You’re paid a salary to do your job, you’re not paid an hourly wage to work set hours. My point was that kids should be prepared for the real world, not every kid is going to grow up to do your job. Cell phone use should not be allowed during school. Kids need to know that cellphone use needs to be disciplined. You using your phone with the job you have is very different from the cashier on their phone while ringing up your purchase. As I said in my post, my son in law was a mobile tech that used his phone to keep in touch with his dispatcher. I am quite aware that there are jobs that are suited to cellphone use. That doesn’t mean that school kids should be able to use and misuse cellphones at their convenience. If you are paid an hourly wage to do a job then that is what you should do.
I worked with a guy that was quite often
on the phone while I was busting my behind to get the job done. Whether your employer is stealing from you is your call and none of my business. It never bothered me that I couldn’t use my phone at work because I didn’t want to use my bloody hands to reach in my pocket to get out my phone.
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The cashier is probably going to use their phone for a minute or two at a time in between waves when they don’t currently have a customer. And that is okay, and expected, and normal, and doesn’t require an absolute ban or immediate explulsion/firing for any use of a phone during the school day/during the work day.
For school context, in between classes/passing periods, the last few minutes of a class where some teacher will choose to allow students some freedom in behavior away from the grindstone for those 3 minutes, lunchtime/cafeteria, etc, are all very reasonable and very applicable to the real world where many (most?) people use their phones sporadically throughout the day while on the clock and it’s okay
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After reading more of your posts I agree with your approach to cellphone usage, and I admire you for it. It sounds like you’re a very responsible parent. I didn’t mean to insult people that need to use their phone while working. I tried selling real estate years ago, so I understand taking work home and on vacation.
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I agree, however phone use needs to be disciplined. Between classes ,sure. On coffee breaks at work or at the end of the day. But this kid was taking pictures of a partially clothed little girl. Parents need to teach their kids proper habits. Like Sinbad said that he does. He deserves respect for that. More parents need to do that.
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I didn’t take it as an insult and I wasn’t intending to be pushy in my response. I was being a bit snarky and meant it in jest. I should have thrown some emojis in there. 
I respect your point of view.
We tell our kids that they need to manage their phone and not have their phones manage them.
They used to call the blackberry phone a crack berry and there is an addictive element to it.
My kids’ school doesn’t allow phones during the school day and I’m good with that.
I’m enjoying the exchange and all of the points of view. I’d rather be challenged in my perspective than just have someone agree with me all the time. Thanks for your kindness in responding.
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My daughter was in a locker room and one of the girls got her phone out and took a selfie with another girl. The girls in the picture were modest but my daughter, my wife, and I about freaked out.
The other thing with phone usage is you have to be in touch with your kids. That’s a whole other problem. Parents give kids a device to baby sit them. Parents have to be personally connected with their kids. Event then they can fall in or get drug into bad stuff online. I’ve seen good parents have no idea what their kids are doing online. That’s why I referenced Protecr Young Eyes. They have a newsletter that keeps parents informed about what’s going on out there. It changes so fast I can’t keep up with it.
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I’m going to check into Protect Young Eyes and talk to my daughter about it. Her daughter is 12 and very pretty which is why I freaked out about this kid taking pictures in the locker room. And also I hope her parents are taking her cellphone use seriously. She just got it when she turned 12 last February.
And I really didn’t mean to insult anyone that can or needs a cellphone for work. Just the ones that aren’t supposed to and do anyway.
And I do respect and appreciate everyone in this community.
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