No. But Nothing. I Said No.
Cell phones for tweeners. My kids better not even think about asking for one of these.
This is the last thing a pre-teen kid needs. I don't care if it only calls mom and dad and a few "select, approved" numbers. Kids don't need cell phones. Nobody really knows if they're dangerous to adults let alone kids with thinner skulls. And besides most kids can't keep track of their shoes by the end of a school day. How many of these things are going to turn up in the lost and found?
Can you imagine the problems these things are going to cause in schools? If they're smart, teachers, principals and superintendents will simply insist that they are turned off while school is in session. No use in class, no use on the playground during recess and lunch. How long do you think it will take for an irate parent to bring a court order to a district insisting that their kid be allowed to have the phone on "just in case" the parent needs to be in contact?
For 135 years of public education in this country, we've been doing great with getting messages to our kids through the school office and the office has been the main portal through which kids contact parents. Why do we all of a sudden need the direct link? Oh wait... I remember... according to CNN and the rest of the broadcast media we live in a dangerous, war torn, pedophile stalked country where your kids will actually be lucky to make it home at night. Give me a break.
This just feels like marketing candy cigarettes to kids. God forbid we'd let them actually grow up with trucks and dolls and music and games. They have their whole lives ahead of them. Let them choose if they want to be connected. For now, just let them be kids.
This is the last thing a pre-teen kid needs. I don't care if it only calls mom and dad and a few "select, approved" numbers. Kids don't need cell phones. Nobody really knows if they're dangerous to adults let alone kids with thinner skulls. And besides most kids can't keep track of their shoes by the end of a school day. How many of these things are going to turn up in the lost and found?
Can you imagine the problems these things are going to cause in schools? If they're smart, teachers, principals and superintendents will simply insist that they are turned off while school is in session. No use in class, no use on the playground during recess and lunch. How long do you think it will take for an irate parent to bring a court order to a district insisting that their kid be allowed to have the phone on "just in case" the parent needs to be in contact?
For 135 years of public education in this country, we've been doing great with getting messages to our kids through the school office and the office has been the main portal through which kids contact parents. Why do we all of a sudden need the direct link? Oh wait... I remember... according to CNN and the rest of the broadcast media we live in a dangerous, war torn, pedophile stalked country where your kids will actually be lucky to make it home at night. Give me a break.
This just feels like marketing candy cigarettes to kids. God forbid we'd let them actually grow up with trucks and dolls and music and games. They have their whole lives ahead of them. Let them choose if they want to be connected. For now, just let them be kids.
posted by Todd at 9:16 a.m.
1 Comments:
I teach 11-18 year olds and almost every single one of them - I see about 600 different kids a week - has a cell phone, in school, switched on. The rule is, it's switched off at school. The reality is, it isn't. Parents insist on them being switched on. We confiscate them, get parents to collect them, and the parents give them straight back to the kids.
I hate cell phones in schools! The only reason kids need them on is so they can call home before the teacher does when they get in trouble.
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