Brandon, a student in Ms. Jennings 7th grade science class, had his phone out during a major exam. Ms. Jennings established testing procedures at the beginning of the year. Phones are to
be put away during tests and quizzes. All students are to place their phones in their backpacks.
Students know that – if they do not follow this rule – Ms. Jennings will take up their phone for
the duration of the class. If a student violates this rule twice, Ms. Jennings takes up the
phone, notifies the parent, and assigns a detention.
When Ms. Jennings calls Brandon’s mother, she explains the situation and that, when she
questioned him, he indicated to her that he knew he wasn’t supposed to have his phone out but
kept it anyway so he could check the time. The mother became upset that Brandon had
received a detention for this and sent the following email after the conversation.