Anybody shocked? In a report from Common Sense Media, 35% of students admitted to cheating via cell phone, and over half the students surveyed admitted to using the internet to cheat in some way. There are plenty of people who would say that this is a fantastic reason to ban cell phones in schools. I only hope that those same people ban the internet too.

Seriously though, I’m not sure anybody is all that surprised. And before any suggests we start banning technology because it can be used to cheat, I suggest they do a few Google searches. Cheating has evolved into quite the art form. Taking away their phones won’t stop anyone, any more than taking away the graphic calculators would. If someone wants to cheat, they will.

A few other key findings from the study:

* 41% of teens say that storing notes on a cell phone to access during a test is a serious cheating offense, while 23% don’t think it’s cheating at all.
* 45% of teens say that texting friends about answers during tests is a serious cheating offense, while 20% say it’s not cheating at all.
* 76% of parents say that cell phone cheating happens at their teens’ schools, but only 3% believe their own teen has ever used a cell phone to cheat.
* Nearly two-thirds of students with cell phones use them during school, regardless of school policies against it.
* Teens with cell phones send 440 text messages a week and 110 a week while in the classroom.

Related Reading on Teach42

• Cell phones in the classroom
• How can I cheat on the test? Let me count the ways…
• What can you do with a cell phone in the classroom?
• Deleting Online Teens Act
• Mobile phones in the classroom…. again