The state of the nation (2)

Apparently our delightful children are using mobile 'phones to cheat in exams. Rather than telephoning each other they are, presumably, texting questions such as "whn dd clmbs sl t ocn blu". So do their mates have their 'phones sitting on their laps waiting for these cries of help (bit of a giveaway, I'd have thought) or do they just wait for a friendly vibration? Do kids nowadays really have the time to answer the exams and respond to mates' text messages? Are they free and easy with their responses or do they reply along the lines "swp yu amcn dcln indpnds fr ocn blu"? Maybe they are communicating with mates at home who have their books open. What about if the mate happens to be taking a physics exam at the time - "swp yu nwtn scnd lw fr ocn blu"?
According to a woman interviewed on the Today program this morning, kids are glued to their 'phones (huh - it's not just kids - ed.) but should be forced to hand them to teacher before the exam. Presumably some can't cope with the surgical removal necessary. Kids at our local comp. are banned from taking mobile 'phones into school but they take as much notice of this as the car drivers who continue to use theirs while on the move. Presumably the poor kids can no longer get through the day without telling someone "I'm in advanced dovetailing" or "I'm behind the bike shed". And how could they turn down an opportunity to record a video of the class epileptic having a fit?
One of these days I'll have a real rant about mobile 'phones. bt il wt ntl its lst xpctd