Editorial: Let schools decide cell phone policies

Thursday, Feb. 27, 2003 | 10:04 a.m.

In the early 1990s radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh gave priority to callers using cell phones. The gag was that if they had a cell phone, they must be rich and therefore worthy of extra respect and attention. About that time, in 1993, the Legislature approved a statewide ban on cell phones and pagers in public schools. The reasoning was that such expensive high-tech communication devices were the province of the corporate world and had no purpose on school campuses except for illicit activities, such as drug dealing or cheating. Times have changed but the law hasn't.

Becker Middle School students this week testified in favor of Assembly Bill 128, which would repeal the ban on cell phones and pagers in schools. We agree with the students, who had some good arguments. Schedules for parents and students alike are hectic these days and cell phones allow for coordination between them. If there is an emergency at school, cell phones can mean quicker responses and less anxiety. If a student must walk home alone, cell phones add security. Cell phones today are so affordable that the business and social worlds are evolving on the assumption that nearly everyone has gone wireless. Students shouldn't be shut out of this evolution.

This is not to say there shouldn't be rules. School principals and teachers should insist that phones be turned off during instruction and testing, or at other times as established by policy. The students who testified this week did so as young adults. They and their peers should understand a premise central to adulthood -- that along with privilege comes responsibility. If students follow the rules set by schools, cell phones should pose no more of a problem than pens and pencils, or should we say, laptops.