Florida high school teacher uses signal jammer to stop pupils using cell phones

Dean Liptak said he wanted youngsters to concentrate on their lessons, not their devices

Dean Liptak wanted his pupils to focus on lessons not their phones

In his own words, Florida teacher Den Liptak simply wanted to do something to stop his pupils constantly being distracted by their cell phones.

His solution was perhaps a little severe.

This week it emerged that Mr Liptak had been suspended without pay for five days after officials were told the teacher had bought a signal jammer and used it to render his pupils’ devices useless.

Mr Liptak, who teaches science at Fivay High School, believed his actions were benefiting the youngsters as they would be better able to concentrate on the lessons he was teaching.

“I wanted to fix the cell phone problem in my class,” he told an investigator.

But according to a report in the Tampa Bay Times, the school authorities were not impressed.

“Not only did your actions potentially violate federal law, you posed a serious risk to critical safety communications as well as the possibility of preventing others from making 9-1-1 calls,” superintendent Kurt Browning wrote in a letter informing Liptak of his suspension,

The disciplinary action also came with a reprimand and a last chance agreement. Any future similar poor judgment could result in a recommendation of termination, Mr Browning wrote.

Mr Liptak previously received a letter of warning in 2013 over using a worksheet that included “inappropriate content”. Mr Liptak did not contest the suspension.