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ATTLEBORO - No cell phones during school hours?

ROTFL.

That's the general reaction local teenagers are having to Attleboro High School's ban on cell phones. And if you don't get what they're saying (Roll On The Floor Laughing), you obviously don't get the importance of school time texting.

"I hate the ban, because I text all the time," said freshman Jenn Tierney. "I text my boyfriend. I see how it distracts teachers or whatever, but it doesn't distract me. And kids are still texting. They just do it more discreetly."

Attleboro High School has asked all students not to use their cell phones during academic class hours and in the school hallways, a move to enforce the handbook rule that bans cell phone use but not possession of the phones. Principal Don Frederick said that lately cell phone use has been on the rise and that the frequent use of phones for voice or text messaging has been singled out by teachers as a major distraction during class hours.

He also said students have been responsive to the request.

"The kids have really been good about it, which shows you what kind of kids we have here," Frederick said.

But students say not too many kids have stopped using their cell phones during class.

Chrystie Beauregard said she considers the ban "stupid."

"I use it for texting," said Beauregard, 14. "If I'm bored in class or if someone else is bored, we (text) random stuff. Everybody is still doing doing it. Just more people will get in trouble."

Brant Holt, 15, has gotten in trouble for using his cell phone during class, but is still texting.

"They just take it away until next period," Holt said. "I text about where we're going to hang out later."

Frederick said there are a number of legitimate reasons for students to bring cell phones with them, such as coordinating rides, letting parents know about schedule changes or cancelation of sporting events.

Individual meetings were held with each of the school's four graduating classes last week at which the policy was explained, Frederick said. Although the possibility of using cell phones for cheating was raised in a recent letter to the editor in The Sun Chronicle, Frederick said cheating hasn't been a problem. Frederick noted that students are banned from bringing phones into the room during SAT testing.