Interversity.Org

NYC schools' cell phone ban earns parents' ire

NEW YORK (AP) -- Parents who oppose the cell phone ban in New York's public schools are ranting in e-mails to the city's government that the policy is unreasonable, irresponsible, and hints at "thoughtless fascism."

Here's a tricky issue, one that will have various strong but opposing arguments and no clearly satisfactory solution, I humbly predict. For cell phones ain't going away. They may change, but if anything they will only become smaller and more thoroughly integrated in the usual human accessories — there's been talk for years about "wearable" computers, for instance, so it's easy to imagine cell phone technology woven into fabrics, built into eyeglasses, attached to caps, maybe someday surgically imbricated into the human body.

How you gonna ban eyes, ears or skin that is connected to wireless communication networks?

So NY Mayor Bloomberg's solution, the inflexible application of the ban, seems likely to be pathetically ineffectual in the long term and just about guaranteed to succeed mostly at generating ill will all round.

"These all-out bans brought on by life's minor inconveniences hint at thoughtless fascism," said one parent in an e-mail.

"These kids are students, not prisoners," wrote another parent, whose daughter travels from their home in Brooklyn to school in Manhattan.

It's a stretch to label the cell phone ban fascism, at least as I understand the word though it's certainly authoritarian. Certainly students are often treated if not exactly like prisoners then in prisonerish ways. To some extent that's probably unavoidable given the nature of the institution, which has some very real challenges when trying to manage too many energetic young people in too small a space for too long a time.

But while imposing some strict rules may be necessary, it's still possible (and advisable) treating students and parents with more respect than Bloomberg seems to be doing.

He obviously has no personal sympathy for cell phone users:

Bloomberg, a former CEO who detests cell phone interruptions, once said he fantasizes about stomping repeatedly on the disruptive devices.

A good administrator does not rule by his own personal preferences (we might hope) but should be able to empathize with a respect people who have needs and preferences different from his own (we fervently hope).

I'm not an avid cell phone user, myself. I've had one for years, but I forget it at home half the time, and when I remember it I use it more as a watch than as a phone. I'm poor, for one thing, and anything that charges by the minute makes me nervous.

But I find the arguments of NY parents to be compelling nevertheless.

The small collection of e-mails tells stories of working parents whose children walk many city blocks to school by themselves, or commute by bus and subway, and need to check in frequently.

"She has already been mugged once and a cell phone is paramount," said one single parent who juggles two jobs and needs to keep tabs on her daughter during her commute from Brooklyn to Manhattan for school.

When my wife travels, I am glad she has a cell phone on her. When my daughter goes to forensics competitions in nearby towns, I'm glad she has a cell phone on her. I like being able to connect with my family any time, even if I don't often have the need.

And I remember several years ago when we lived in a troubled city neighborhood, infested with drug dealing and prostitution. Neighbors would go out patrolling the streets at night, armed with trash bags for picking up litter and cell phones for keeping police informed of any suspicious activity.

It seemed clear that a cell phone held in plain sight was something of a deterrent to the local hustlers who might have been tempted to intimidate us (or worse). They knew we could contact police in a blink.

Bloomberg argues that phones can help students cheat and waste time in class by playing games and sending text messages. On the more sinister side, he believes they help gangs organize criminal activity.

Yeah, yeah. And if you ban cell phones cheating will stop and gangs will evaporate, right? Thing is, every tool can be used for good or ill. An electric drill can be used to build a house, but it's also reportedly a favorite torture tool for warring militias in Iraq. Nice, huh? Ban drills, shall we?

The one thing this article doesn't address is the teacher perspective. There is still the little matter of the disruption cell phone use can have. I wouldn't be surprised if many teachers aren't tempted to side with Bloomberg on this issue out of sheer exasperation. They probably hear those clever, cute, loud and thoroughly annoying rings in their sleep (nightmares, I shouldn't wonder, with ring tones as the soundtrack).

I'll bet teachers and students and parents talking together could come up with better solutions than outright bans, though. I suspect a culture of respect would eliminate most annoying and inconsiderate cell phone usage, though I know how difficult achieving that culture can be. But talking about a problem as a community (even a huge community like NYC) is better than this. Gotta be.