Stacy Innerst, Post-Gazette Click photo for larger image.

There was a time when students who wanted to cheat on tests wrote answers on the palms of their hands or created a tiny cheat sheet to slip into their sleeves.

And when messages were exchanged, the modes were whispers or notes passed surreptitiously.

Those moves were fairly easy for a teacher to spot. But now, school officials say, hand-held electronic devices make it possible for students to pass information silently via cell phone text-messaging or faxing, or by using the radio wave or infrared technology in personal digital assistants such as Palm Pilots.

Some of the devices also allow Internet access, yet another possible avenue to cheating or inappropriate activity, such as viewing Web sites that would otherwise be blocked from students.

This burst of technological development has school officials busy devising policies to regulate gadgets.

But as school directors in the Peters Township School District are finding, it's hard to come up with the right wording to restrict, but not stifle, technology that seems to change daily.

A policy that bans specific devices could be outdated as soon as it is printed. In addition, some school officials argue, there can be legitimate classroom uses for some technology.

For example, electronic organizers can keep track of homework assignments, and having on-the-spot Internet access for research can be useful. But the line between legitimate and inappropriate uses can be blurry.

While most districts don't allow students to have cell phones on during classroom hours to prevent disruptions, some cell phones have the same capabilities as electronic organizers.

And while hand-held computers may have legitimate use for such tasks as scheduling and research, some can make and receive phone calls, take digital photos and record sound. That creates opportunity for questionable use.

"There used to be a distinction between cell phones and PDAs," Peters school board Director Mark Buzzatto said during a recent board discussion. "Cell phones are to be turned off. But cell phones are turning into PDAs. I can schedule on mine."

Banning all hand-held electronic devices during the school day is one way to deal with the problem. That's what some districts, such as McKeesport, have done.

But for school officials in Peters, the issue isn't that simple because they don't want to discourage students' use of cutting-edge technology.

"It definitely has potential for abuses in and around the school," said John Hoover, assistant superintendent of Peters schools, who is in charge of drafting policy with board members.

"But it's a whole new era that we live in and we know that there are wonderful uses for this technology and we know that our students live very much in a digital world. We want them to be prepared and facile with all of the technology that would be helpful to them," Hoover said.

The fear that "a small number" would use the devices inappropriately creates the need for the policy, Hoover said.

In Peters, the proposed policy has twice been sent back to the drawing board. After the most recent discussion, school directors decided to use wording that would ban certain activities and uses of the devices, but not outlaw specific devices.

Sharon Fissel, director of policy services for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, said such an approach made sense.

She said the biggest concerns of school boards had been cheating, the use of inappropriate photographs and the invasion of students' privacy by other students with devices that can photograph and record.

It's fear of those kinds of actions that Peters officials cite in establishing policy. In fact, cheating is second on the list of concerns Peters officials have.

Phones and hand-held gadgets that allow access to the Internet could be used to visit inappropriate Web sites during school hours. Internet-accessible computers provided by the school block such sites.

Some devices have digital picture-taking capabilities that could allow students to photograph tests or sections of tests to share with students who face the same test later in the day.

Hoover warned that camera phones could be used for inappropriate picture-taking in such places as locker rooms.

Malicious use

That's exactly what happened earlier this year when a Moon Area wrestler took an obscene photo on a West Allegheny High School student's camera phone before a wrestling match in January.

According to court records and police reports filed at the time, the wrestler took a picture of another wrestler's penis on the camera cell phone of a female student trainer.

The cell phone had been taken out of her purse while she was in the West Allegheny trainers room. When the purse was returned, the photo was found on the phone.

Moon Area coaches cooperated with police to find out who took the picture.

"Schools have run into problems when these things are used in a malicious way. The possibilities are endless and we are trying to prevent those kinds of things," Hoover said.

But at McKeesport High School, despite the ban, the phones were found to be useful in preventing abuse.

Principal Harry Bauman said he was able to discipline a girl who was harassing a boy by wearing a shirt that had a negative message about the boy printed on it.

She wore a coat over the shirt when she was in front of teachers. When she took the coat off, the boy was able to snap a photo of the shirt with his camera cell phone and he took the photo to the principal.

"I was able to discipline the girl for the harassment," Bauman said. "Unfortunately, I had to discipline the boy who used the camera phone as well, though her discipline was much worse."

It's likely the Peters policy will ban the use of photography or recording devices.

Use OK, but limited

The Bethel Park School District enacted a policy that allows students to use electronic devices with "instructional or educational purposes" if they have a teacher's permission.

Teachers have the authority to limit the types of devices and when and how they may be used.

Bethel Park students are not permitted to use the devices for recording, and students who use them for communication, entertainment or any noneducational purpose will have them confiscated and will face disciplinary action.

Once the student complies with the disciplinary action, parents may pick up the device at the school office.

Spokeswoman Vicki Flotta said the policy had served the district well.

"So far, what we have is working for us and, really, our kids respect the teachers' right to limit the usage of these kinds of devices."

Bans on the use of electronic equipment date to 1989, when the state Legislature passed a law barring pagers from school property, school-sponsored functions and buses, except for special circumstances. They included students with a sick family member or those who were members of volunteer fire departments.

At the time, school officials complained about pagers interrupting classes and said they suspected they were being used to set up drug deals.

After that legislation, a number of districts created policies that banned the possession of cell phones on school property. But most of those districts have eased those policies since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, when students found cells phones to be a comfort because they could quickly check on the safety of family members.

Now most districts allow students to carry cell phones, but they must be turned off during school hours.

No phones allowed

The Woodland Hills School District is a notable exception. There, simply possessing a cell phone is a violation of the student conduct code, according to Pat Dawson, district spokeswoman.

Dawson said the board had not even broached a discussion about hand-held computer devices because the big problem in the district now is getting kids to leave cell phones at home.

In Peters, the board is considering banning use of cell phones on school buses and during organized after-school activities as well, although some board members said this might be difficult because many working parents use cell phones to reach their children after school.

McKeesport's Bauman said he gave his daughter, who attends a neighboring school district, a cell phone specifically so he could keep in touch with her when she stays after school for activities.

"Some of these kids who are heavily involved in activities don't get home until 7 p.m.," he said. "It doesn't seem fair to tell them they can't be in touch with their parents."

Bauman said he saw a day when the McKeesport board might try to revisit its policy and allow some limited use of hand-held computer devices in the classroom.

But he knows that his board will face the same challenges as the Peters board in devising appropriate language.

Peters board President Denise Abraham said at a recent board meeting that the task was frustrating.

"This is sort of like herding cats," she said.