When in doubt, ban EVERYTHING

Jim Beeghley pointed out to me a bill that was introduced in Pennsylvania that made me start dry heaving at my desk. House Bill number 363 of 2009 attempts to amend an earlier bill to further prohibit “telephone pagers and certain electronic devices.”

It’s short and sweet.

The possession by students of telephone paging devices, commonly referred to as beepers, cellular telephones and portable electronic devices that record or play audio or video material shall be prohibited on school grounds, at school sponsored activities and on buses or other vehicles provided by the school district.

Of course, recognizing that broad sweeping legislature at the state level may be intrusive, overbearing and insufficient to accommodate the needs of all local communities, they do allow for individual districts to bend the rules under certain circumstances.

Well, two circumstances.

If the student is a volunteer fireman, or if they need it for medical reasons.

: Image by Mike “Dakinewavamon” Kline via Flickr

So all portable devices that record or play audio or video material are going to be banned from school grounds and activities. I sure hope that there aren’t any schools in PA that have laptop initiatives. Or that allow students to record lectures. Or that do any sort of podcasting. Banned, banned and banned.

EVEN if they did just restrict it to cell phones, it’d still be ridiculous. Regardless of your feelings about cell phones in the classroom, I hope you agree that it is a decision that should be made at the school or district level, not at the state level.

If I lived in Pennsylvania, I’d be throwing a hissy fit (technical term) right now.

Feh. Someone tell me some good news before I go yack.

7 Comments

Louise Maine
2/12/2009

That has my blood boiling! As a PA parent and educator, I am fuming. Not only has my district passed a laptop initiative and will be going one-to-one, but I am an educator that has moved to podcasting. In a rural area where students may be gone some time for athletic events, this is a dangerous idea to think they are not permitted on the grounds at all.

In my classroom, which is pretty much paperless and based on a wiki, I even requested permission for students to use cell phones for camera use. It is difficult to take original lab and project pictures with just one camera. For a state that runs a very successful tech initiative (Classrooms for the Future), this is definitely a step backwards.

geek.teacher » Blog Archive » Bad, evil, naughty law!
2/12/2009

[...] 2: Jim Gates, Steve Dembo, and Damian Bariexca also have their [...]

Robert Rowe
2/14/2009

*sigh* Before I left Northern York County School District, I was on the cellphone committee (along with a few other teachers, assistant principal, and 3 students). We were actually taking a step forward, discussing the idea of allowing use during lunch, study halls, with more severe consequences for in-class use (hopefully to cut down on cheating).
The policy even before that, allowed devices on campus, but not visible/audible during the school day.
This bill scares me.

Laura DuBey
2/14/2009

Penn. banning cell phones, pagers, etc in schools http://tinyurl.com/cx6s4q

Jim Gates
2/19/2009

Did you happen to attend the session at PETE&C called, “If students use a proxy, block everything”? (Something like that) I was involved at the Hotel and didn’t get to hear it. I wonder if the title was used to provoke folks into coming, or if they really do start by blocking everything and only allowing in that which they hand select.

Word to parents – before buying a house in an area, visit the school to hear their philosophy about cell phones and technology in general. THat cheap house may not be worth the price your children will pay for it.

Jim Gates´s most recent blog post.. STOP NOW!! WATCH THIS!!