Welcome | View My Profile | Sign Out
MediaPost Home About MediaPost Privacy/Terms Media Kit Sitemap
Publications Home News
Online Media Daily Media Daily News Marketing Daily Mobile Marketing Daily Search Marketing Daily
Daily Feed> Email Daily Feed> Video Daily Feed> Social
Online Blogs
Online Spin Email Insider Search Insider Behavioral Insider Online Publishing Insider Mobile Insider Video Insider Gaming Insider Performance Insider Metrics Insider Social Media Insider Just An Online Minute Daily Online Examiner Raw Blog
Media Blogs
Research Brief Diane Mermigas:On Media TV Watch TV Board Magazine Rack Media Creativity Notes From the Digital Frontier Digital Outsider Mad Blog Red White and Blog
Marketing Blogs
Engage:Hispanics Engage:Kids 6-11 Engage:Moms Engage:Boomers Engage:Gen Y Engage:Teens Marketing:Green Marketing:Sports
Magazines
OMMA Magazine Media Magazine
Subscribe
Feedback Loop RSS Feeds Archives Subscribe
Feb 24 OMMA Metrics Measurement (NYC) Feb 25 OMMA Behavioral (NYC) Mar 17 OMMA Global (San Francisco) Apr 14 Search Insider Summit (FL) Apr 18 Email Insider Summit (FL) Apr 27 Outfront Conference (NYC) May 12 OMMA Mobile (NYC) May 13 Digital Out-of-Home Awards (NYC) Jun 15 OMMA Video Jun 16 OMMA Publish (NYC) Jun 17 OMMA Social (NYC)
Recently Concluded Events
Jan 26 OMMA Social (San Francisco) Jan 25 OMMA Performance (SF) Jan 12 MEDIA Agency of the Year 2009 (NYC) Jan 11 OMMA Agency of the Year 2009 (NYC) Dec 6 Email Insider Summit (Utah) Dec 2 Search Insider Summit (Utah) Nov 3 OMMA Adnets (NYC) Oct 30 OMMA Video (LA) Oct 29 OMMA Mobile (LA) Oct 29 OMMA Mobile & Video (LA)
All MediaPost/OMMA Events Event Blogging Past Event Videos
Industry Events Calendar
2010 Digital Out-of-Home Awards
2010 MEDIA Agency of the Year 2009 2010 OMMA Agency of the Year 2009 2009 Creative Media Awards 2009 OMMA Awards 2009 Digital Out-of-Home Awards 2009 Media Agency of the Year
All Awards
Employment Situations Wanted Services Offered Post a Job
Briefs Reports Online
MediaPost Directories
Mobile Insiders Group
People Finder Edit My Profile View My Profile My Contacts My Calendar
HOME • MANAGE SUBSCRIPTIONS • MEDIA KIT
Pa. Lawmakers Mull Cell Phone Ban For Schools
by Wendy Davis, Monday, February 16, 2009, 4:15 PM

SHARE

TOOLS

RELATED ARTICLES
TAGS:  Technology

MOST READ

In "Doubt," set in 1964, Meryl Streep's Sister Aloysius objected to the use of ballpoint pens, which she believed ruined penmanship.  

As it turned out, she was on the wrong side of history.

But the reactionary impulse sparked by innovation still lingers. The latest example comes from Pennsylvania, where state lawmakers introduced House Bill No. 363, according to Techdirt. The measure would prohibit students from possessing cell phones, iPods or other portable electronic devices in school, on school buses and at school-sponsored activities. The bill would only allow schools to make exceptions for students who belong to volunteer fire companies, ambulances or rescue squads, and for those who need cell phones for their medical conditions or the medical conditions of immediate family members.

Should Pennsylvania press ahead with this ban, it would join 10 other states that also ban cell phones from school premises, according to this New York Times article.

So far, the measure is drawing pushback in Pennsylvania. Opponents -- including teachers -- have formed a new Facebook group, "Proponents of Progressive Education Opposed to PA House Bill 363," and have also started an online petition drive. "We see this bill as a backward step in the quest to make Pennsylvania students nationally and globally competitive," states the petition. As of this morning, it had been signed by almost 250 people.

It's always going to be difficult to convince everyone that the benefits of new technology outweigh potential harms. Some people argue that cell phones enable cheating on tests, while others say they distract students from paying attention.

But, like the computer, calculator, ballpoint pen, or any other invention that makes life easier for people, cell phones and iPods also confer obvious benefits. For instance, schools throughout the country are now creating podcasts, while parents have long used cell phones to reach their children in emergencies.

Technology is only going to continue to improve, and digital media will inevitably become more important -- both to students and teachers. This bill, if enacted, won't change that, but could potentially put Pennsylvania students at a disadvantage to those who grow up in more tech-savvy jurisdictions.

Of course, in an era where even the leader of the free world had to fight to keep his BlackBerry, it shouldn't be surprising that government officials don't always recognize the benefit of technology.

1 person recommends this article. 

7 comments on "Pa. Lawmakers Mull Cell Phone Ban For Schools"

  1. Paula Lynn from Who Else Unlimited; hollywood5459@verizon.net
    commented on: February 20, 2009 at 8:08 PM
    Jonathan, just the point you make. Cell phones also make you lazy and uncommunicative. You deal directly with the teacher and work out a solution. Otherwise, you are lazily teaching your children not to face and work with the obstacles they will face when you are dead (hope you live long and healthy, but there are no guarantees).

  2. Daniel Neal from kajeet, Inc.
    commented on: February 17, 2009 at 10:41 AM
    I'm the founder and CEO of a company created specifically to deal with the challenges of mobile technology in schools, kajeet. ( www.kajeet.com ) Our affordable no-contract cell phones have parental controls that can be used to control time of day of usage, who can call or text in and out, who pays for what, and what mobile services are allowed. I have 2 kids (10 and 13). In our family, I set the controls so that they can only call/text my wife and me during school hours (911 always works). Calls within the family are paid for by me, all their other usage is paid for by them with a phone allowance they get. And all the available content is kid-appropriate. I use our GPS Phone Locator to keep track of my daughter's location. Our idea is that each family has it's own views on how to structure their kids' mobile usage (assuming they want their kids to have cell phones, which isn't always the case). We simply provide the tools in an affordable package (with cool phones kids like). Happy to share more if you like. I'm at dneal @ kajeet dot com.

    Best, --Daniel Neal

  3. Joseph Guerriero from DMD Mobile Holdings
    commented on: February 16, 2009 at 9:53 PM
    Problem - Our children are quickly becoming globally non-competitive from an educational perspective.

    One Solution - Turn the cell phones off during the course of the school day. Teachers have enough of a challenge. The use of the cell phone for educational purposes are vastly overstated. Flirting and sexting, yes. Math,science and history, no. Please. Keep the disctractions to a minimum. If a parent needs to get in touch with a child due to an emergency, they can do it the old-fashioned way - call the principal or a teacher...

  4. Jonathan Mirow from BroadbandVideo, Inc.
    commented on: February 16, 2009 at 6:53 PM
    As a parent with a kid in High School - I know these devices are used for more than "calling home" - BUT in this fast-paced, after-school program dominated environment - I would never support a ban on cell phones in school. Example: My kid has a percussion teacher who routinely makes kids stay late, I mean 6:30, 7pm. If it were not for the cell phone, I'd spend way more of my life sitting in the school parking lot than I already do. This way, at 6:30 I can text my kid "What's up?" and he can quickly text me back and we know what's up. How would we do that if he didn't have a cell phone?

  5. Michael Munz from Making Law Easy
    commented on: February 16, 2009 at 5:37 PM
    The problem of cell phones goes far beyond our youth. Pennsylvania Laws needs to include everybody, all ages. This would be a good article for the network attorneys of http://www.makinglaweasy.com or http://articles.makinglaweasy.com either way I will write about this topic and have some of Pittsburgh's local attorneys comment.

  6. Russell Cross from Prentke Romich
    commented on: February 16, 2009 at 4:52 PM
    The "problem" is not with possessing the phone it's with the inappropriate use of the phone in the school setting. It is no secret that kids use them at school for more than "emergencies" - my daughter tells me that she and her friends use them constantly for messaging (if you have good motor control you can text without seeing, and a surreptitious glance at a screen is easy).

    The "emergency" notion is a a bit of a red herring: up until the phone becoming ubiquitous, an "emergency" was dealt with by calling the school office and having a message passed on to a student: I can't imagine a situation where an "emergency" is so vital that the having the kid paged from the office would make a difference.

    Banning is not the answer - developing and using some form of phone-use protocol is the only way. (Although I am all for jamming devices in movie theaters!)

  7. Craig McDaniel from Sweepstakes Today LLC
    commented on: February 16, 2009 at 4:38 PM
    In the past 6 months, I have almost been hit be teenagers driving while on a cell phone call. So the problems with cell phones go well beyond high school. I firmly believe the cell phone use at the wrong time and place is more harmful. I see no good reason in school kids having a cell phone in schools other than the reasons mentioned in the PA bill.

Leave a Comment

You must be signed in to comment. Sign In



ARCHIVES

Recent Daily Online Examiner Articles
RIAA Stands Firm On High Damages For File-Sharing   
Should Web users who share music for free have to face the same potential liability as...
Will Google's Super Bowl Ad Backfire?   
For years consumer advocates have warned that Google poses a threat to Web users' privacy. Now,...
Showdown Looms Over Future Of Google Books   
In late 2008, the Department of Justice threatened to file an antitrust lawsuit against Google unless...
Will Comcast Move To 'Three Strikes' Regime After Buying NBC?   
Some digital rights advocacy groups have long criticized the prospect of "three strikes" policies, which would...
Critics Still Unhappy With Google Book Deal   
Some critics aren't any happier with the revised deal in the Google Book Search case than...
Obama Touts Neutrality, But Can FCC Deliver?   
President Barack Obama reiterated his support for net neutrality this week during an interview on YouTube....
Software Company Backs Passage Of Privacy Laws   
Faced with the use of its technology to track consumers without their permission, software company Adobe...
EFF Shows How Web Companies Can Track Cookie-Deleters   
Flash cookies aren't the only way of circumventing users' ability to opt out of online tracking....
Flash Of Criticism At FTC Privacy Roundtable    
Behavioral targeting companies had better call their lawyers. Federal Trade Commission consumer protection head David Vladeck...
Note To Facebook: Yes, Web Users DO Care About Privacy   
Earlier this month, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg infamously said that Web users no longer cared about...
>> Daily Online Examiner Archives 
ABOUT MEDIAPOST • MASTHEAD • MEDIA KIT • RSS FEEDS • PRIVACY/TERMS & CONDITIONS
©2010 MediaPost Communications. All rights reserved.
1140 Broadway, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10001
tel. 212-204-2000, fax 212-204-2038, feedback@mediapost.com