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  • Is your school considering a ban on cellphones?

  • Don’t let it happen!

  • Your hands will get twitchy.

  • What are you going to look at and listen to all day?

  • The teacher?

  • No way!

  • Rather than get upset, why not launch your first campaign?

  • Save the cellphone!”

  • Who knows, you may become a leader.

  • (“We don’t want to grip and moan, get your hands off our cell phone!”)

  • Today, the schooltomorrow, the world!

  • Start by gathering convincing reasons to keep cellphones in school.

  • Even if yours has already banned phones, you can try the following:

  • First: Convince Your Parents or Guardians.

  • Theyre your best allies.

  • Here’s just a few points that might persuade the people who love you most to let you keep

  • that phone where it belongs: with you at school!

  • Having a cellphone in school will improve your grades!

  • (Theyre listening.

  • Now, back that idea up with the following!)

  • Some students ride the bus for hours.

  • Hours that could be spent getting an early start on your homework.

  • (Ok, snapchatting, but were trying to convince the adults in the room.

  • Wait, are they on Snapchat too?

  • Great…)

  • It’s hard enough finishing all those assignments before bedtime while juggling your other responsibilities

  • taking the dog for a walk, extra-curricular activities, chores.

  • It’s tough being a kid!

  • Using a cellphone, you can turn homework in at the last minute.

  • You won’t always do that, but tell your parents you want to be graded on what you

  • turn in, not when you submit it.

  • (Remind them that when colleges see your transcript, they can’t tell the difference between grades

  • that mean you left your paper at home and those that mean you weren’t learning.)

  • (Don’t stop there, keep it going!)

  • You can practice reading and writing as itll be in the future.

  • The methods you learn in school should remain applicable in 20 years when, instead of writing

  • cursive or hauling around heavy books, well be typing book reports and reading online.

  • Wait, aren’t we already there?

  • Exactly!

  • Also, when you leave your cell at home….

  • Mom sometimes mistakes it for her cellphone and takes it to work.

  • So, she misses messages from her clients all day and instead gets texts from your friend,

  • Emma.

  • Karen breaking up with Jake is pretty major news, but Mom’s a tad bit more concerned

  • about staying in touch with her business contacts

  • And your phone gets lonely.

  • Like a kitten that needs to be petted or a puppy longing to play, your cellphone yearns

  • for attention.

  • It breaks your heart to think of it sitting all alone on the shelf.

  • Vibrating into the void

  • Ok, maybe not that one.

  • But if you had your phone

  • Dad could text you when he’s going to be late picking you up.

  • Which is, like, always.

  • With a cellphone, instead of waiting in the rain, you could study in the nice, dry library!

  • Remind your parents how overprotective you areif you know when to expect Dad, you

  • won’t worry so much!

  • Also!

  • You can text Dad if the baseball game youre playing runs into over-time and extra innings.

  • He might still be able to make it!!

  • You can let Mom know that the lead in the play got sick, so you and the rest of the

  • cast are being let out of rehearsal early.

  • Winning campaigns are inclusive.

  • Ask your parents if they have any ideas they’d like to contribute.

  • Next: Convince Your Teachers: using everything you told your parents plus

  • (Okay. youll need to get all scientific!

  • Grab a clipboard and say this!)

  • Auditory and visual learners can benefit from recording the class on their cellphone.

  • Ask your teacher before you film them.

  • For that matter, ask anyone before you take pictures or video of them!

  • But there’s no denying that some kids retain more information by listening to a recording

  • than reading notes.

  • When a student needs individual help, the rest of the class can watch educational videos.

  • You won’t pass any more notes in class because youll be texting!

  • Wait, scratch that

  • Next up: Convince the Administration (you know, the people who run the school) by sharing

  • some of the above, along with the following arguments

  • Having cellphones at school increases student vocabularies by helping them learn cool words

  • likedeterrent”!

  • (A deterrent is what stops someone from doing something.

  • I’ll give you an example later.)

  • The whole student body will excel in national exams!

  • Your administration is now officially on board.

  • And ... phones can help students get out of a jam.

  • Like that time a substitute teacher had your whole class playhide and seek,” and

  • Jayden hid in the music room closet.

  • Jayden won the game; no one found him.

  • But Jayden couldn’t collect his prize because the door to the closet got jammed!

  • Then, the band started practicing!

  • Jayden yelled and pounded on the door, buteven though the whole class was looking for himno

  • one heard him over the drums and tubas!

  • Luckily, Jayden had his cell!

  • Instead of panicking, he calmly texted his friends and shared his location.

  • Good thing too!

  • Band practice lasts 45 minutes, but when youre stuck listening to it through a jammed door,

  • it feels like an eternity!

  • Believe me, if the administration has heard the school band, they feel Jayden’s pain!

  • Besides that, you can text each other about when the superintendent is coming down the

  • hall and coordinate a surprise party!

  • I think theyll like that!

  • Who’s bringing the cake?!

  • The biggest reason youll give the administration is that, no matter what the rule is, some

  • kids are going to bring cellphones to school anyway.

  • And some parentsfor safety and conveniencewill insist that they do.

  • Why turn everyone into a bad guy and waste the teacher’s time if they have to constantly

  • try to catch students with phones when, instead, you could have a set of reasonable guidelines

  • the whole school understands?

  • Just don’t volunteer your parents to be on the cellular rule-writing committee without

  • asking them firstthey might get mad and confiscate your phone!

  • Your campaign is going great!

  • But youre not done yet

  • Last but not least: Convince Your Fellow Students.

  • I know, most of them are probably already on board because, obviously.

  • But you want to make sure theyre fired up!

  • You can’t win this fight alone.

  • You need your friends campaigning with you, so remind them what’s at stake:

  • Amy can talk to Kim at lunch, even though Kim’s home sick that day.

  • It’s nice for Kim, she’s lonely.

  • It’s also good for Amy.

  • Kim’s her best friend, and Kim’s empty chair makes Amy sad.

  • A cellphone will fix that!

  • Shondra can have music at recess and organize a dance party!

  • (This time without Aiden singing…)

  • Then Shondra can lend her dance-mix to the gym teacher when the school’s sound system

  • fails (again).

  • (Instead of having Aiden singing!)

  • Brett can use it to talk to his imaginary friend.

  • Wait, do imaginary friends use imaginary cellphones?

  • If so, what are the monthly fees?

  • Speaking of fees

  • Every day, Johnny asks Ryan toloanhim his lunch money.

  • Johnny never pays Ryan back.

  • In fact, he doesn’t even really askhe just kinda takes Ryan’s lunch money.

  • Johnny, that’s rude!

  • But he doesn’t care, and Ryan feels like telling the teacher would be useless.

  • You know why?

  • Because Johnny’s one of those guys that always gets away with it.

  • He can turn on the charm.

  • Or the tears.

  • Johnny can convince any adult thathe’s innocent!

  • But the next day, Johnny wants money again.

  • What can Ryan or any witnesses do?

  • Record the whole thing on a cellphone!

  • You know, to help Johnnyremember.”

  • With the camera rolling, there’s a good chance Johnny won’t want Ryan’s money

  • after all!

  • In this case, Ryan’s cellphone is not just a record-keeper, it’s a deterrent!

  • (Hey, there’s that SAT word!)

  • After that, if the mystery meat in the cafeteria scares Ryanhe can use his phone to order

  • in!

  • And what about poor Reese?

  • He broke his arm, and now he can’t climb at recess!

  • And climbing is his favorite thing.

  • Recess was once the one part of the day he looked forward to the most, but it’s now

  • just 30 minutes of boredom and disappointment.

  • With a cellphone, Reese could play games with his good hand instead of staring at the jungle

  • gym andwell, you get it.

  • Just like Reese, you can watch a funny video to cheer you up when youre having a bad

  • day!

  • And

  • You won’t get caught passing any more notes in class because youll be texting!

  • Be sure to ask your classmates for their ideas and add your own reasons in the comments below!

  • By the way, about that worddeterrent”?

  • Funny, I thought that was what we used to clean laundry.

  • Hey, if you learned something new today, then give the video a like and share it with a

  • friend!

  • And here are some other cool videos I think you'll enjoy.

  • Just click to the left or right, and stay on the Bright Side of life!

Is your school considering a ban on cellphones?