Pixigirl, I meant as a courtesy, turn them off during class. I'm not putting down the use of them otherwise.
There's a big sign when you enter my kid's school it's about one foot high and two foot wide and it says: "Please turn off your cell phone". Nobody likes the idea of their tax dollars going to waste on kids who don't appreciate it. The teachers are the authority in the Kingdom of the School. If you incur their displeasure, you risk the chance of all the weight of society falling on you. It's not a really difficult rule to follow, and guess what? If you follow rules, everyone is happier, now who would have thought it possible that rules are actually good? Using a cell phone is just a frickin ego booster. Its a status symbol that says: "I've got money to afford this" "I've got friends that phone me, and you don't." There's alot an inanimate object can say, just by being an inanimate object. I find people who get off on that ego trip very distasteful. And guess what? A lot of people do it.
(There, is that enough fodder for debate?)