Posted on 09/15/2008 6:28:47 AM PDT by andrew roman
I don’t support the cell phone ban but I understand why it’s in place.
Do you think the 12year old kid that pulls a knife on you is going to listen when you tell him to stop texting his weed connection during class?
My GAWD!!!
I must be dead —
I mean, how did I *ever* manage to survive my 20-umpteen years of schooling - and even more-umpteen years of living, up until this very minute - without owning a cell phone...
Being *out* of touch occasionally teaches values like self-sufficiency and independent thought....
My point precisely. It isn’t about the cell-phone ban per se, or the book bag ban ...
It’s about the loss of instilling proper values.
Thanks for the reply!
My first question is: do the teachers & administrators get to keep THEIR bags & cellphones? If so, why?
The usual Lefty rot- rule by decree, with no thought to actual consequences.
Wouldn’t want the slaves to have too much freedom, after all.......
Denene, if your daughter is as garbled as you are, I suggest you spend the college-tuition savings on a cruise.
Good article, in some ways, but the real surrender of authority occured when parents turned child-rearing over the the state. All the rest is just details.
I agree with youy whole-heartedly.
The over-arching point of my article is not to praise cell phones. It is the lament of the loss of values.
It isn’t about the technology.
Thanks much for the comments!
You wrote:
“the real surrender of authority occured when parents turned child-rearing over the the state. All the rest is just details.”
excellent point!
There's too many people to be thinking and making decisions about every individual situation. Especially when the thinkers and deciders would be school authorities.
I think that the *newer* reasons for the cell phone ban has more to do with students cheating during tests. Students can now text questions and answers to others; they can even photograph them to others waiting to take a test.
Even the private schools in our area have joined in on the ban.
I agree with your basic thesis — I argue with your choice of example...
The core problem is that the “DECENT CITIZENS AGAINST JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING”, and the Legal System Lottery, have conspired to attempt remove any risk from human exixtence — hence kids on bicycles more heavily armored than Crusading Knights, and draconian Zero Tolerance Policies everywhere...
Advocating cell phone use by children on the theory that they *need* to be ‘in touch’ with parental units 24/7 would seem to be part of the cotton-wrapping.....
I appreciate your points very much.
The point, as I attempted to articulate, was not that children NEED to be in touch with parents - that is, unless the parents themselves feel that way. That cell phones make things easier for many parents is not the thing to question here, in my mind. That’s a separate issue altogether. The fact that the instilling of values, limits and discipline has gone by the way-side is my point.
The extent of “cotton-wrapping” by parents is entirely a separate issue. My issue is with the nanny-ing of children by the state through regulations, rules and lack of common sense.
I agree.
Unfortunately, it can't be. The legal climate won't allow schools to flunk or expel students who violate school rules, any more than they're allowed to fire teachers who are scr*wing the students.
Want to get cell phones out of the classroom? Issue a hammer to each teacher, and if a cell phone is in use, whether it's for cheating or just disruption, WHAM. Never happen, though.
Yes. Government schooling, the NEA and our universities were infiltrated by Marxist-socialist Frankfurt School minions. And our government is grabbing them at an ever-younger age through early childhood $$$ for public schools.
I think that we’re talking about the same thing - from a couple of different perspectives....
” The extent of “cotton-wrapping” by parents is entirely a separate issue. My issue is with the nanny-ing of children by the state through regulations, rules and lack of common sense. “
These are not, IMO, ‘separate issues’ — they are both symptoms of the same phenomenon: belief in the modern mythos of absolute feel-good at any cost....
“Want to get cell phones out of the classroom? Issue a hammer to each teacher, and if a cell phone is in use, whether it’s for cheating or just disruption, WHAM. Never happen, though.”
You have captured the spirit of my article perfectly. ALLOW the students to make the mistake of bringing the damned thing into school. Most students will learn self-control and the concept of limits ... Some won’t - as is the case with kids everywhere. This isn’t an article advocating cell phones for kids. That is not the issue. (Perhaps I’ll write an article about that).
It’s about issuing hammers to teachers!
;)
Thanks for the comment.
I think it's part of the same point. Weak-willed parents turned over the upbringing of their children to the state, and they've created an equally weak-willed culture in their proxies. For example, why can't the schools exercise firm discipline? Because parents will sue them. Why can't children run, jump, throw a ball, or ride a bicycle? Because their parents will sue if they get hurt.
The problem is with the public at large, and it's perpetuated in the schools only because the public puts up with it.
See my #19 - the parents would sue for the cost of the cell phone and the incredible emotional trauma to their precious little darling. Even with limits to liability for government employees, this is still going to massively disrupt the (presumed) education process.
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