Purdue Professor Cleared Over the Confiscation of a Student's Ringing Cell Phone

Nearly a decade ago owning a cell phone was a thing of movies. Nowadays, it is beginning to seem that not owning a cell phone is a thing of fiction. Moreover, cell phone usage in schools are becoming quite a distraction to both teachers and students alike in schools nationwide.

According to 9News.com, six weeks ago at a business law class at Purdue University, Professor Meade was teaching class as he did every day. However, when one of his student's cell phones started ringing, Meade confiscated the phone. According to Meade, the student failed to promptly turn it off. Meade said he had every intent to turn over the cell phone to the dean's office the following morning. However, in a rush to get his phone back, the student contacted Purdue police. The officers informed Meade that failure to return the phone to the student would be considered theft. Therefore, while Meade was speaking with the police officers, the dean of Purdue's School of Management, Richard Cosier, arrived to retrieve the phone and return it to the student. Cosier lectured the student about the importance of not using cell phones during class, as per the school rules.

Ironically enough, the special prosecutor in charge of this case could not have experienced worse timing for informing the judge that he was clear of theft for confiscating the phone, as his own phone began ringing when delivering his report in Tippecanoe Superior Judge Meade's packed courtroom on Friday. The prosecutor quickly left the courtroom. On his exit, he passed a posted sign asking those who enter the courtroom to turn off all cell phones.

The prosecutors own cell phone mishap amused the judge. The judge enjoyed the prosecutors ringtone - "I Fought the Law (and the Law Won)."

"It was the perfect ending to this little annoyance," Meade said to the Associated Press.

According to an M:Metrics report, thirty-eight percent of teenagers surveyed text-message friends and family during school. Many high schools have cell phone policies in tact, in an effort to avoid an escalating situation such as the one previously mentioned. At Shelby Junior High in Shelby Township, MI, cell phones are not to be seen nor heard during school hours. This rule is common nationwide.

According to U.S. Cellular statistics, an estimated sixty percent of teenagers in America own a cell phone. In addition, U.S. Cellular statistics found that most of these teens spend an hour per day on the phone, which is the average time a student sets aside for homework completion.