Posted on 08/03/2004 5:28:03 PM PDT by wagglebee
Patent leather shoes were once banned from some Catholic schools: Despite girls' modest shin-length skirts, their unmentionables might be reflected in the shiny part of their shoes.
Fast-forward to 2004, when some students in south Palm Beach County supposedly slipped their camera cellphones under girls' skirts for a digital peepshow. That prompted the school board Monday to do a little banning of its own: the camera phone.
Having them on campus, on school buses or at any school-sponsored activity, even out of sight, won't be allowed if the board affirms the policy Sept. 13.
Low-tech cellphones and cameras that aren't phones are still allowed at school. But the phones must be off and put away.
Students found with the camera cellphones could be suspended from extracurricular activities, face an in-school suspension or other in-school intervention program. Board member Mark Hansen was the most adamant about the policy change.
"They're causing a lot of problems," Hansen said. "We really need to take action to make sure these are prohibited."
And attempting to ban all cameras could be logistically tricky, yielding quandaries about photography classes and yearbook photos.
"The camera is another, whole, long conversation," board member Paulette Burdick said. "When a child is caught with a camera we know it's a camera."
Superintendent Art Johnson said the difference is camera phones' ability to transmit information — and fast. The district began banning tiny technology with the advent of pagers, because they were sometimes used in drug deals, he said.
"The issue here is communication," Johnson said. "I could be literally taking a test, take a picture of it and send it to someone, and someone could text-message me back the information."
Existing school board policy should prevent that situation, but Johnson said making camera phones contraband provides another layer of protection.
"The likelihood of a student being tempted to go around the policy is greater if they can possess the phone," Johnson said.
But in the battle of the school board vs. 21st century technology, at least one board member is skeptical:
"With modern technology, there's no way to keep up," Lynch said.
Wonder if the ACLU will sue them?
Larry Flynt is opening a sex shop in nearby Fort Lauderdale, these kids may just figure there's a market for the pictures.
Why are cell phones allowed in schools at all? They are there to learn, not make drug deals.
"the trouble with progress is it doesn't know when to stop"..
....somebody famous once said that, don't remember who, but it sure makes sense...
YOUR COMMENT IMPLIED THAT PEOPLE WHO USE CELL PHONES ARE DRUG DEALERS OR MOSTLY USE COMMUNICATION FOR DRIG DEALING. SINCE MOST PEOPLE USE PHONES FOR REGULAR CALL AND NOT TO DEAL DRUGS, THE SAME IS TRUE FOR STUDENTS. THE ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE DOES NOT MEAN THAT STUDENTS ARE DRUG DEALERS. MAJORITY OF TEEN USE OF PHONES IS FOR CONVERSATIONS.
I'd like to hear any reasons you might have for children carrying cell phones in school.
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