Phone Ban Update: NYC Parents Angrier Than Kids
Fri May 12, 2006 12:12PM EDT
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Robin Raskin raises some good questions in her post on cell phones in schools. But as you can see, the debate over whether phones should or should not be allowed in schools is no longer academic in New York City, where school officials have netted 800 cell phones in 12 days of surprise scanning for weapons and other banned things.
Everyone knew kids would be angry to have their cell phones taken away. But Mayor Michael Bloomberg and school officials are dealing with an even bigger and louder group of protestors: Parents. The New York Times and Daily News report today that after parents turned out in force to PTA meetings and a City Hall protest rally yesterday, an influential parents' advisory group is working with Norman Siegel, a civil liberties lawyer, to pursue a lawsuit.
Bloomberg shows no signs of compromise, even though other major city schools are not enforcing cell phone bans. And city parents are not backing down, either. Memories of 9/11 when family members couldn't reach each other are too fresh, and the use of cell phones to immediately connect with each other too ingrained.
True, cell phones are a safety link between parents and children in an unsettling time. But some students are abusing the privilege by taking pictures of tests and students in locker rooms, and surreptitiously text-messaging during classes. The right to bring phones to school may be decided in the courts, but the right way to use them has to be drummed in at home.
Check out Robin's tips for parents on modeling and demanding proper use of cell phones in and out of school.
What would you do if cell phones were banned at your kids' schools?
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Comments on Phone Ban Update: NYC Parents Angrier Than Kids
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2 Posted by nassimnasr2000 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:33PM EDT Report Abuse
I agree with the schools to ban when kids are abusing their rights to have cell phones. I also feel bad for other kids who respect their rights to use cellphones. I believe phone companies should have a special and friendly phones for the kids with a certain age and parents to let them use in case of emergency. This is the only reason why I have my kids have cell phones. Unfortunatelly, our society is making things easy to get by. How did we live before cellphones came to our lives?
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3 Posted by gorgite2003 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:11PM EDT Report Abuse
The Chancellor and Mayor are the absolute worst hypocrites. Let's see the NY police randomly seize the cellphones of THEIR commuting children or their relatives' children, and see how safe THEY feel! The Chancellor is sending a reply letter to parents expressing their "sympathies" and "apologies for inconveniences". This is not a time for sympathy and apologies - this is a time for safety. There is no reasoning of the Mayor and Chancellor that outweighs my child's safety. Fact: During 9/11 and for ten days afterward, our family's cellphones were the ONLY phones that worked! TO: All parents with commuting children in NYC - send the Chancellor and Mayor your strongest message to lift the dangerous, outdated and unrealistic ban regarding students carrying cellphones [turned off] in school! Don't let the Chancellor and Mayor endanger your child. Cellphone stories should be sent to civil rights attorney Norman Siegel who is building a case right now to sue the city regarding the cellphone ban. The Mayor and Chancellor should use the police to punish cellphone abuse, not the majority of commuting well-behaved children who need their cellphones for safety. Geoff in Downtown Manhattan
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4 Posted by dpreet@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:47PM EDT Report Abuse
I agree with the schools to ban when kids are abusing their rights to have cell phones. I also feel bad for other kids who respect their rights to use cellphones. I believe phone companies should have a special and friendly phones for the kids with a certain age and parents to let them use in case of emergency. This is the only reason why I have my kids have cell phones. Unfortunatelly, our society is making things easy to get by. How did we live before cellphones came to our lives?
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5 Posted by kat34girl on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:47PM EDT Report Abuse
I think they should not take kids cell phone away . What if they needed it . They should have a time or a day when they could bring cell phones or I-pods . That would make kids happy and probably happy .
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1 Posted by troop633leader on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:21PM EDT Report Abuse
I'd take my kid out and sue both if the phone were taken during a scan for weapons, but if my kid had it out of his backpack and a teacher took it because he had it out during class, I'd charge my kid for the cost of the phone and the service contract, and NO I wouldn't get him an new phone. If the school wants to ban camera phones and text messaging, that is ok with me too, but do it at the beginning of the school year, not in the middle.