By Sarah Kirchner and Brie Cohen, staff writers

Passing paper notes used to be the distraction for many students and teachers in area classrooms, but now it&8217;s old school. The new millenium&8217;s technological advancements have created new ways for students to communicate with each other during class.

Note passing has gone digital.

Text messaging &8212; or &8220;texting&8221; for the tech savvy &8212; has become the medium of choice for Albert Lea High School students and a disruption for teachers.

&8220;Most students are pretty responsible with cell phones, but I think there is a lot of text messaging going on, and it can be a problem,&8221; said business teacher Louise Berhow.

Students feel text messaging in class is discrete because the phone is kept silent; however Berhow said it is easy for her to tell when she sees students hiding phones behind their purses or under their desks.

Many other teachers can tell, too. The first half of the current school year brought 75 out of 1,200 students to the office to retrieve phones that had been taken away during class.

Albert Lea High School, unlike many schools in the surrounding area, does not completely deny students cell phone use during school hours. Students are allowed to use their phones before, after and between classes.

However, if a phone becomes a distraction in class it&8217;s taken away, usually until the end of the day but sometimes longer. Principal Alan Root said that schools who forbid cell phones are just delaying the inevitable.

Enforcement of the cell phone school&8217;s policy varies from teacher to teacher. Some allow a phone to sit out during class, but if it becomes a problem the student is asked to put it away or go to the office, said junior Paige Seadlund.

When students are worried about losing their phones some demand to remove the battery so teachers and administrators can&8217;t read what is in their phone.

&8220;You&8217;re connected to your phone,&8221; senior Millie Haapala said.

She said many students feel their personal space is invaded if a teacher or administrator is able to see their text messages. Batteries are also removed to prevent an unexpected message from popping up.

And these messages pop up quite a bit. Haapala&8217;s friend, senior Faren Culp, said she sends more than 100 text messages a day and that is common for many of her friends.

This could be why some students argue about giving up their phone. Haapala said students would rather be sent to the office than lose their cell phone.

Culp said most of her friends have unlimited texting in their plan. Ones who don&8217;t have texting commonly use a friend&8217;s phone.

Root has learned to consider new technology when making classroom rules. He said the school has had to adjust instructions because students continue to use new technology.

&8220;I&8217;m fascinated with technology,&8221; Root said. &8220;You have to adjust to changes. How do you make it positive? How does it become an eduational tool?&8221;

He said technology is getting more and more intense and he wants a balance between technology and learning.

Other problems Roots cited pertaining to cell phones included &8220;cyber-bullying&8221; and drug deals via text messaging, neither of which he said are a common problem at Albert Lea High.

Cyber-bullying happens when students text insulting messages to each other, sometimes sexual or racial. Root said he has seen two to three, maybe four, incidents of cyber-bullying.

Student use of cell phones at school isn&8217;t always distracting. Having an immediate connection to the outside world can prove to be beneficial in the case of an emergency.

&8220;It&8217;s nice to have them with all the tragedies that are taking place,&8221; said social studies teacher Joe Sczublewski.

Either way, more and more students carry cell phones, making texting more prevalent. &8220;There&8217;s

a small number of kids who just can&8217;t seem to leave it alone,&8221; said biology teacher Jim Quiram.

However, Root said the situation really isn&8217;t different from when students would pass good old fashioned paper notes.

Box: Prices of text messaging for major carriers

Carrier

cost for unlimited

incoming text cost

outgoing text cost

text messages

(w/o plan)

(w/o plan)

Midwest Wireless

$19.95 + monthly rates

free

5 cents

Sprint

$15 + monthly rates

15 cents

15 cents

Alltel

no unlimited plan,

15 cents

15 cents

1,000 texts for $14.99

+ monthly rates

Cingular

no unlimited plan,

15 cents

15 cents

3,000 texts for $19.99

+ monthly rates

T-mobile

$14.99 + monthly rates

10 cents

10 cents

Verizondoes not offer local service

Qwest

$15* + monthly rates

5 cents

5 cents

*Qwest charges per text, with a monthly cap of $15. There is not an unlimited plan, but a

customer will not spend more than $15 a month on text messages.