Students Hit With $15 Fine For Using Cell Phones in School

When students in Abilene, Texas, return to class in six weeks they better not be caught using their cell phones.

Schools across the country have been cracking down on cell phone use but nowhere has that stance been stronger than in Texas where state regulations allow individual districts to confiscate the devices and charge up to $15 for their return. One district has collected more than $100,000 from students in just the last two years. Collapse
(ABC News Photo Illustration)

No calls, no texting, no surfing the Web. If they slip up and are caught, they better be prepared to pay the price: confiscation of their cell phone until they pay a $15 fine. After the second offense, their parent must come in to pay the $15.

The fines are meant as a get-tough approach to what educators call an out-of-control use of phones and other mobile devices in the classroom. But in this economic downturn, the fees are bringing some much-needed revenue into

Tuesday, July 14, 2009 |

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