Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Lewis Bart Stone has ruled that the NYC Department of Education’s ban on student cellphone possession (not use, possesion) is rational and lawful, upsetting a bunch o’ mommies and daddies who spent $9.99 to get junior on the family plan.
Thank god that somebody finally figured out that the Constitution does not guarantee every child the right to possess every expensive toy that comes out. The DOE rationale was that cellphones are disruptive and could potentially aid in cheating. True enough, but not the greatest excuse. If they banned use, rather than mere possession, that would deal with both problems and still let junior flash his moto-krazer-choco-v978 cellphone/camera/MP3/videocam/browser/babysitter around the schoolyard.. The vast majority of the time, cellphones add absolutely nothing to the richness of life for our children, and the rest of the time our children can manage. Remember when kids had to suffer the indignity of not having EVERYTHING they ever wanted?<BR><BR>And don’t think I don’t know who you are, mom and dad. You’re the ones who have the cellphones glued to your ear as your swerve your SUV into my lane, doing 47 MPH on a superhighway, because there’s a shoe sale at DSW. Are you offended? Good, at least I did something useful today. I’m offended too, because you and your stinking cellphone habit do not have the right to put my life (or the lives of MY children) at risk.<BR><BR>So let’s talk about the real issue here. Junior needs to show all his buds that he’s got the cool cellphone and is worthy of his peers admiration. You want Junion to have it to show how you’re able to provide him with total coolness, not to mention it makes you life more convenient because you can then neglect your parental responsibility of know where Junior is and what Junior is doing by virtue of instanteously reaching Junior on the cell. Oh my, how much easier! Now time for a mani and pedi in my “oh so busy” life.<BR><BR>But what of those kids, and those parents, who care more about education than being cool? Who can’t afford to throw money away on gadgets? Whose kid will be beaten by some other kids who wants to steal the newest toy? Not your problem, as long as it’s not your kid, right? <BR><BR>The way we treat our children is frightening. We live in a world of crass materialism, with hi-tech crap being one of the primary culprits. Of course, Louis Vuitton handbags and Chanel sunglasses (those other necessities of teenage life) are also in the mix. I would ask whether this is what you really want for you kids, but I am painfully aware that the answer will sicken any parent whose aspirations extend beyond self-convenience or high school aggrandizement. We’ve all heard the rationalizations. I’m sick of them. Put your kids first. Lose the cellphone.</p><div class=)
The Right to Text Message
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