Gothamist: Needed: Babysitter for a High School Student's Cell Phone

lacy hebert

Tue, 28 Nov 2006 11:09:39 -0500

I need cell phone pros in schools because i am doing a debate on it and am having no luck getting information. thanxx//.

Michael

Wed, 13 Sep 2006 21:46:27 -0500

Parent of a girl, what exactly is an emergency? I think the schools should confiscate the phones permanently, that way, it would only happen once. Little johnny will only fuck around once if they take his little techno jewel away forever... Kids suck.

Parent of a Girl

Tue, 23 May 2006 06:43:05 -0500

Look. This is a truly idiotic policy, wasting money and time. Kids will play games no matter what. When I was in school, it was with calculators. Graphing calculators were the hot new thing, because you could play games on it. A little earlier, and it's paper games. If kids are going to play games in class, they're going to do it, and nothing will be able to stop them. Stop wasting money by going after the kids who are screwing around in class. They want to play games? Let them. It is their education which will suffer. Once they repeat a few grades, they won't be as eager to fool around. Or, if they're intelligent enough to play games in class without failing, more power to them. We need to stop catering to the lowest common denominator. Look. I'll be giving my daughter a phone, and I'll want her to be able to answer it. 24/7. No, I don't think the school is best able to find my child, particularly since most high school students have at least one free period and one lunch period throughout the day. I think that the best way to find my child in case of a true emergency is to call /them/. I can't discipline the school if they don't find my child in a timely fashion-but I can take care of my own. The school needs to stop trying to be a parent. Parents are perfectly capable of enforcing discipline when needed, and if they're not? Then it's only those students who suffer, and maybe they should develop some initiative.

Jack

Mon, 22 May 2006 16:58:56 -0500

"Maybe parents shouldn't let their kids run free like wild animals in the city." Wow. Since when did this city become populated with closeted conservative ne'er do wells that seem like the crotchty foil of a 1980s teen comedy. Run for the hills! We can't let teenagers do anything! "Footloose" was a cautionary tale! Don't let your kids run wild! Don't let them dance! Good lord, New York... What has happened to you...

well spoken

Mon, 22 May 2006 14:26:10 -0500

jojo: that was very well put. i am glad i did not have to go to school in nyc.

Judas Iscariot

Mon, 22 May 2006 13:38:36 -0500

errrr what about a 30% Latino population?

la

Mon, 22 May 2006 13:22:55 -0500

If you need to go to public school make sure it's got a 40% asian population. anything with more than 30% black is bad news.

jojo

Mon, 22 May 2006 13:20:21 -0500

as a public school student myself I'd like to say it's all fucked up. The smart kids are forced to suffer through a public education system that is controlled like a penitentiary. why? it's cause there are so many urban ghetto kids in public school that don't realize to get an education for free is a privilege. They spend their days making jokes, not studying, talking about what happened on TRL and veronica mars and basically just waiting to graduate cause they think their lives will be like paris hilton's or those rich kids on sweet 16. not realizing they will probably work at mcdonalds and become security guards. The teachers don't treat the students like people cause a majority of the students don't act like human beings and it becomes a chicken or the egg thing. Teachers sort of treat the students like a huge entity rather than as singular bodies cause it's easier for them. I wish a teacher would say "excuse me young woman please give me your cellphone". It's more like "shut that cell phone off and get out #454". it's both fucked up. Teachers and students. That's why I stay quiet and can't wait to get out of class and out of the NYC school system.

Judas Iscariot

Mon, 22 May 2006 12:48:04 -0500

I am so with you on this issue SATAN. All this bellyaching from these hysterical parents are laughable. If they would be half as concerned with the educational progress or lackthereof of their animalistic kids instead of harping about their inalienable cellphone rights we wouldn't be talking about summer school and the high drop out rates of this city. I have no sympathies with these parents.

Brightliner

Mon, 22 May 2006 12:25:08 -0500

Jack, you should be a teacher then you'd eat your goddamn words. You'd be like "excuse me young man/woman can you please put your cellphone away before I confiscate it?" 3000 times a day.More like saying it ten times, confiscating a couple, then spending the rest of the school year desperately trying to get to the classroom before the kids do so they don't set up all sorts of nasty surprises for you.

SATAN

Mon, 22 May 2006 10:54:14 -0500

Maybe the Dept. of Education should be focused on making the classroom experience more appealing to kids rather than forcing them to memorize rote tasks so they can pass standardized tests and--in the end--learn nothing. - Jack Maybe parents shouldn't let their kids run free like wild animals in the city. Also, maybe parents should encourage their kids to do their homework, learn, and act like responsible human beings in the classroom. Plus, parents could respond properly when the school calls to tell them their kid is acting like an idiot. But, of course, parents blame everything on teachers, principals, administrators, etc. - essentially, anyone but themselves or their kids. Once parents and students realize that a free education in this country is a privilege, and once the teachers have the ability to actually punish bad behavior without fear of losing their jobs, maybe everyone can work towards making the classrrom more stimulating. A friend of mine who is a teacher told me she spends 95% of her time trying to control and teach the 5% of the kids who are either always making trouble or dumb as shit (or both). This includes constantly calling the parents who tell her it's her problem since she's the teacher. She told me she has some smart, good students and wishes she could spend more time with them, but she predicted the few smart kids would eventually get frustrated with not learning anything. And, you want to let these kids bring cell phones to class???f.

Barry

Mon, 22 May 2006 10:37:52 -0500

Is it really that hard to get a phone into the school? Just shove it in your shoe or something, for the schools that don't have metal detectors.

k

Mon, 22 May 2006 10:37:31 -0500

Jack, you should be a teacher then you'd eat your goddamn words. You'd be like "excuse me young man/woman can you please put your cellphone away before I confiscate it?" 3000 times a day.

teenagers will be teenagers

Mon, 22 May 2006 10:23:53 -0500

i went to a great, award-winning public school in CT. brilliant teachers, highest SAT scores in the state and all that. and guess what, i still did not give a crap and was bored out of my mind. teenagers are teenagers no matter where they are. a teacher could literally be juggling fire and riding a unicycle while teaching trig and kids would still be bored out of their skulls and rolling their eyes. it's the fact that they are being forced to learn things they are not interested in. i don't think the DOE could provide much that the kids would truly find interesting all day long. hence, cell phones which are far more interesting (to them anyhow...) hence, the need to take them away...

Jack

Mon, 22 May 2006 09:11:38 -0500

"The whole point is that kids cannot be trusted..." Which is why nobody wants to go to school anymore anyway. Yes, a few bad eggs ruined it for many. But the semi-fascist way kids are screened when they go to school is just insane. If restricting kids from having things was a better way to educate, every private school in the city would have metal detectors and similar cell phone bans. But they don't. Maybe the Dept. of Education should be focused on making the classroom experience more appealing to kids rather than forcing them to memorize rote tasks so they can pass standardized tests and--in the end--learn nothing.

I disagree

Mon, 22 May 2006 08:21:10 -0500

Jack: The whole point is that kids cannot be trusted if they HAVE a cell phone in school to keep it OFF and leave it in their backpacks/lockers/whatever. If the kids were leaving them in their lockers all day, why were they banned in the first place? And yes, a few bad apples probably ruined it for everyone...

SATAN

Mon, 22 May 2006 01:36:44 -0500

Jack - Are you serious? You want teachers to divert even more time towards trying to discipline kids? Plus, you're just going to make kids hate teachers more, and then parents will get angry and so on. It's so much easier and sensible to just have no cell phones. There's no excuse as to why they're needed in schools period!

jack dong

Mon, 22 May 2006 01:09:52 -0500

i remember going to school when we had no cellphones. What's the diff now? oh yeah, whiny kids with a sense of entitlement. It doesn't matter anyway though, cause your kids won't get a very good education in public school regardless.

Napoleon

Mon, 22 May 2006 00:16:31 -0500

I wanna call my cousin from school whenever I need Chap Stik. My lips hurt real bad!

Harry Matthews

Sun, 21 May 2006 21:52:17 -0500

I see how much time teens spend with their cells on the subway, where they can't call anyone; I can only imagine how disruptive that could be in school. I also wonder if those parents who say they're needed for family contacts have seriously studied their teen's bill. How many of those 350 text messages said, "Late for dinner Mom"? There's also a rich history of bodegas checking phones. Visitors to Riker's Island, for instance, only discover that they're carrying contraband when they reach the bridge from Queens. A local bodega is happy to check cell phones and other prohibited items for a modest fee.

Jack

Sun, 21 May 2006 21:34:54 -0500

I think people are completely missing the point about this. The issue is not kids using cell phones in school. The issue is kids HAVING cell phones in school. Very big distinction. Using a cell phone in school is against the rules and they can be confiscated and have been confiscated for years. But now the Department of Education is basically saying "Even if you bring a cell phone to school and turn it off all day, we're taking it from you as you walk in the door." I think anyone caught using cell phones in school should have them taken away. But pre-emtively taking them away? That's simply crazy and stupid.

Kate

Sun, 21 May 2006 21:13:40 -0500

I used to be a teacher and it was at the cusp of the cell phone era. Ringing phones aren't the issue- it's the texting, the distractions, the games, etc. Think of having a laptop in college and now make it smaller with an age group that is even less responsible. I think it has more to do with overindulgent parents and less with "safety." If your kid is 13 and you're letting him/her wander after school, then you've got other issues.

Toby

Sun, 21 May 2006 20:15:08 -0500

I am amazed the Department of Education hasn't realized that there was a chance to make a profit - renting out cell phone storage space to students.

Samantha T

Sun, 21 May 2006 20:11:18 -0500

SATAN, you took the words right out of my mouth. Who knows better where a kid is during the school day than the school itself? If your kid isn't there, you've got bigger fish to fry than being able to reach your child via cell phone. Why should educators have to spend their time disciplining kids for yet another thing, especially when kids are texting in class, etc.?

Well...

Sun, 21 May 2006 19:02:52 -0500

"What the hell is the problem ?" I cannot even imagine how irritating it must be in high school these days with a phone ringing every 30 seconds. That is the problem. Why didn't you just call the school, leave a message, and then have the school tell him? I mean, it's not like people never had emergencies before cell phones were invented. What did people do in the olden days pre-1997? They called and left messages. Seriously. Not that hard to figure out.

Teddy

Sun, 21 May 2006 18:31:38 -0500

What the hell is the problem ? The problem is with many teenagers that phone won't stay inside the backpack for too long. If most teenagers had restraint over the use of their phones, this would not be a issue. Why should the teachers be the cellphone police and make a few more enemies. On the other hand, I remember that a few of my HS classes (15 years ago) were so boring that if I had a phone, I would have probably played a game or text my friends as well.

SATAN

Sun, 21 May 2006 18:31:19 -0500

dribbly - I had something similar when I was in high school, and my parents had to reach me, but guess what? My mom called the school head desk and explained the situation, and then she called the mother of one of my good friends. The school called me to the office and let me know what was going on, and my friend's mom took care of me. I have no sympathy with today's whiney parents and kids. No cell phone... get over it!

trilby

Sun, 21 May 2006 18:05:04 -0500

Briefly, a couple of weeks ago, my husband had to go to a hospital emergency room in Manhattan, while my son, 13, was just getting out of school in Queens. I had to meet my husband at the hospital and certainly wished I had been able to contact my son to let him know, as I would have been before this IDIOTIC ban went into effect. It seems very simple to me, that if a kid is seen inside school with a cellphone in his/her hand, fine, take it away. But as long as the cell is in the backpack, what the hell is the problem?

Brightliner

Sun, 21 May 2006 17:28:00 -0500

When this story first came up, I thought it would make for a good business opportunity for somebody. I guess the bodega had the same idea. Think about it. $1 a day for a school of 1000 is a lot of money, even including the three-month summer break. If you're close to a big school like Brooklyn Tech, up to $4000 a day is nothing to sneeze at. Heck, for that kind of money, I'd even offer the kids free battery charging while they're in class.