November 15, 2006
Tales of NYC School Kids' Cell Phone-less Horror
Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum stepped into the hot debate about cell phones in the schools with e-mails from parents that detail why cell phones are necessary. Here are a few of the stories:
One mother wrote, “I have three children in New York City public schools. As a working single mother, I need to be able to communicate with my children at any given time…Just a week ago, my daughter…was attacked by three students in her school. I tried furiously to reach the school but couldn’t [get] through [because of] the voice prompts. She has a cell phone but can’t take it to school because it will be confiscated. By the time I was able to reach her, she had already been taken to the hospital with a broken arm…If she had been able to call me, I would have known what hospital she was taken to and may have been able to help her get out of the situation.”According to one mother, “My 13-year-old son was shot with a paintball gun last week…walking home from school and he had no way to call me at home to inform me that he was injured. His only result was to leave the scene of the accident walking home bleeding, hurt, dizzy, disoriented as well as having blurred vision. … The NYPD informed me to try and get him a cell phone! I told them that he had one but could not bring it to school. … our children have the right to have immediate access to their parents!”
One student was assaulted on her way to school, and could have received help sooner if she had been allowed to carry her cell phone. “As I was walking, about a block away from the school a man appeared behind a car…he exposed himself to me…he chased me for about 30 seconds before he gave up. As soon as I went to school I informed my assistant principal about my situation. … Later [the assistant principal] said that another girl had come in five minutes before me with the same story. My assistant principal also said that if I had a cell phone the security guards would have been able to find him because I would have been able to call the school while the incident was happening and help would have been swifter. She also wanted me to have a cell phone so if I saw the man again I would be able to call the police.”
Gotbaum said, "I clearly don’t want students using cell phones during class time, and neither do parents. But in today’s world, the Mayor has got to understand that cell phones are a vital line of communication. My message to the Mayor is simple: Allow principals to decide on a cell phone policy on a school by school basis."
am New York reports that Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott actually "came out to the front of City Hall to discuss the issue with Gotbaum and reporters," saying that the city is "trying to alleviate" the distraction that cell phones bring. We agree with both Gotbaum and Deputy Mayor Walcott, but doubt that students will be able to turn off their phones if allowed to keep them during the day. These stories though, are horrible and there has be to a solution somewhere in the middle. We just don't know what kind of punishment the Department of Education can use to deter cell phone usage during the day.
The cell phone issue has erupted lately because of mandatory weapons security screening at some schools - cell phones and other electronic devices are confiscated along with weapons. But students at schools with less screening usually manage to keep their phones. Gothamist on public school cell phone rules disparity.
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I dont think cell phones should be allowed. I was in the nyc school system back in the 80's when things were MUCH worse. If a parent needs to contact a student while they're at school - call the school.
What did we ever do without cellphones?!?! As saddening as these stories are, there is no real reason for kids to have a cellphone. None of these incidents would have not happened if a cellphone would have been there. I'm also not even sure the kids who were injured would have even used a cellphone if it had been available because it's assuming that someone who has been injured is capable of taking care of themselves and in all the stuff I've seen, that is rarely the case. Heck, there is no justifiable reason why most adults have cellphones (that's why we are subjected to so many innane conversations now.)
Why don't they just let the kids keep cell phones in their lockers? That way they're not brought to class but the parents will stop whining.
Betsy Gotbaum did something?
Wow, is it that dangerous to be a student in NYC schools?
i praise god for every day i managed to get by and survive without a cell phone going to school unsupervised in nyc from 1996-2002. this is the new "i walked 4 miles uphill in the snow." living in the struggle
What did students do in before cell phones? Personally, I wasted hours of time in the school's lonely parking lot. When my track meets ran late, I arrived to find a parent waiting in their car for up to an hour. Having a cell phone would have saved both my parents and I untold hours. While cell phones, used improperly, can be disruptive, I wish people would at least acknowledge what a huge convenience they are for both kids and parents.
Why not just make cell phone jammers legal? Have one in each school and if there is an emergency the principal can turn the thing off?
*sigh* kids these days. and the parents! a cell phone is a convenience, not a right. i'm tired of the general sense of entitlement everyone walks around with these days...
i've been leaving my cell phone off a lot lately, especially at work. it's just not appropriate! also it's nice to be left alone sometimes.
Oh Gotbaum - you cannot confuse us with your aqua blue silk neck scarf. We know you are indeed a man.
What a bunch of pathetic, whining idiots. It's amazing the human race made it to the 1990s without cell phones. Can you imagine how terrible it must have been for Cro Magnon Man to have to hunt the wooly mammoth without a cell phone? "Hi honey, I just got one....yeah, of course it's big....yeah, OK, I'll be home in 20 minutes." Or just imagine the hardship of the early Puritans, eking out a meager existence in the long Massachusetts winter without cell phones plastered to their ears. "Hi, Uncle Bob? How's London? Yeah, it's really cold here. No, you can't talk to Suzie, we had to eat her. Hold on a sec, there's some red guy with a mohawk at the door." Surviving the first 150 years of New York public schools without cell phones must have taken gritty determination and iron will. It's amazing that anyone survived.
Justin - Very funny and true.
RS - I like your suggestion about legalizing jammers in schools, but the FCC will never allow it. (they'd rather make sure there are fewer titties on TV)
I don't understand what's so complicated about allowing students to carry cellphones and have them on their person, but that they have to be turned off when in the school. That seems like a reasonable, common sense compromise.
What's scarier to me are the incidents described by the people in the referenced article -- students being jumped, shot with paintballs, and being assaulted. Those are some horrific scenarios.
Ok, I "survived" without a cell phone but Bworth is absolutely correct in that countess hours would have been saved.
As far as Chelly saying "call the school," consider that back in the day when kids didn't own cell phones, real human beings actually answered the phones when calling the school.
What did we do before televisions? The internet? Sliced bread? That argument itself is ridiculous.
Justin's comment= hilarious. I agree w/ Mark, why can't they allow cell phones as long as they are kept off - if a kid turns it on, confiscate it... or make them check them with a teacher or the principal's office. It IS handy to have a cell phone in an emergency!
Mark wrote: "I don't understand what's so complicated about allowing students to carry cellphones and have them on their person, but that they have to be turned off when in the school. That seems like a reasonable, common sense compromise."
Uh, the main reason that the school banned it to begin with was because no one turned them off even when told! Having to tell each student 10,000 times to turn it off and then only to have another one go off in class would make you want to ban them all too.
call the school? if a student is having an emergency (being shot with a paintball gun, being chased by a perv, etc.), how does her parents' ability to call the school help her?
Banning cell phones, like all "zero tolerance" measures, it is the lazy and easy way out of nuanced problems.
The solution of empowering each school principal to deal with the issue is the best one on the table.
"Banning cell phones, like all "zero tolerance" measures, it is the lazy and easy way out of nuanced problems."
Yes, because we all know how much teachers enjoy taking time out from daily instructions to tell kids to shut off or confiscating their cell phones each and everyday.
Rufus, I suspect that you're so open minded your brains have fallen out. Let's think of a few other ways we can change the law to deal with "nuanced" problems:
- Variable speed limits, based on whether you really need to get there quickly;
- Public urinations OK, but only if you really have to go really bad;
- Coveting thy neighbor's wife just fine if you absolutely HAVE TO get thy groove on.
Have fun administering your "nuanced" laws. Idiot.
Not for nothing, Betsy, but most of these kids get free lunch 'cause mommy can't afford peanut butter. Maybe we should examine priorities and let parents feed their kids first, then equip them with technology.
Imagine if parents were totally consumed with the educational process as they are with cell phones.
Being shot by a paintball isn't a life and death situation. Sure it's a nuisance and it might sting, but it ain't deadly. As to being chase by pervs, as I remember wasn't there a young woman who after partying with her girlfriends and got her car towed was being followed by a perv (who later raped and killed her) but she had a forethought to call her boyfriend of that fact. Boy, having a cellphone sure helped her out in a time of need.
"if a student is having an emergency (being shot with a paintball gun, being chased by a perv, etc.), how does her parents' ability to call the school help her"
If those things are happening, the school isn't the one the parents should be calling during the emergency. Have the offices start answering the phones again. If we can't staff the offices enough to answer the phone, get parents to volunteer to do it.
Cell phones will be in a school near you soon, if not under Bloomberg, then under Mayor Weiner or Mayor Thompson. They'll be in subway tunnels sooner or later, as well, and we'd all better get used to a noise-filled cacaphony, as bluetooth makes the computer mouse obsolete as well and we're all braying commands at our computers.
I'm investing in good earplugs.
www.forgotten-ny.com
What are the chances that these students are calling/texting their parents from a cell phone on a daily basis?
As much of a chance that they'll graduate knowing how to read, write and add/subtract but otherwise they'll have a great cellphone with a shitty plan that mommy will be paying for.
I'm just amazed that she actually did something, you know, public... and she's like... advocating?
Justin, you can hardly compare traffic laws designed for safety and public urination to cell phones in school. A blanket ban on cell phones when there are other options that might require a little creativity and additional work on the part of the schools is a lazy solution. Other commenters have already suggested some good alternatives.
As far as coveting thy neighbor's wife, huh?
It's still no excuse to remove the ban on cellphones in schools ! I went to public school through the late eighties into the ninties and I didn't have a cellphone . Were there instances were a cell would have come in handy ? Yes, That's no excuse to have them in schools . This is just another bunch of students parents trying to sway public officals into siding with them . Schools are places for knowledge, and Development . They are not suppose to be what the cellphones have morphed them into . They are nothing more then social hangouts now . If you want your child to be the best they can then leave the cell's at home or at a store that can be trusted to watch them . By the way, That's what School safety's for , If there's a problem in the school they are there to make sure the issue is resolved .
"Not for nothing, Betsy, but most of these kids get free lunch 'cause mommy can't afford peanut butter. Maybe we should examine priorities and let parents feed their kids first, then equip them with technology."
Hey, kids can't bring in the PB&J anymore, one kid out of the 10,000 might slip and fall face first into the sandwich and die.
As for the phones, HELL NO!
Isn't the real problem that nobody from the school called the parent when the kid had a broken arm?? That is scary!
Have you guys been in an average NYC public school classroom lately? I (used to) spend several hours a week helping a HS teacher with his chemistry class in the LES (and this in a school that was considered 'good') and the kids have no discipline/self control. There were no metal detectors in this school, so lots of them had phones. They were constantly sending each other messages/being disruptive/yelling... etc .. Those of you who think they will just 'turn them off' are really a bit too idealistic.
The idea about putting individual principals in charge is best, some schools just require more rules than others. Let the students EARN the right to carry cell phones.
Come on everyone- the issue is simple- as we learn new information and as times CHANGE (wake up!), we must tweek the things that we USE to do or not do! It is NOT a convenience to have a cell phone at school, it is a RIGHT! Each and every parent should stand up for their child's safety and make the schools understand that this is something we believe in and feel is necessary. There may be a child here and there who would not benefit from a cell, however, there are many more that would- AND DO! I have a daughter that must come home from school each day and wait for me for at times, up to 2 1/2 hours. Being able to contact her in between practices, the bus stop, and after-school activities is of the utmost importance. You cannot speak in such a naive tone about the 80's- who cares- I was at home alone in those days and it would have eased my mother's mind to be able to contact me when I was in between places. While you talk about how we ever got along without cells, maybe you should remember that you are on the INTERNET, typing on your cool LAPTOP, where most of you SHOP and PAY YOUR BILLS! Give me a break- when it comes to your convenience, you're all for it- but the safety of a child- get it together people- most of you just sound stupid!