04/21/2007
They’re bringing back the fight.Although controversy surrounding the city’s ban of cell phones in public schools has quieted down, District 22’s Community Education Council (CEC) is once again calling for the policy to be eliminated.
“Cell phone ban – we redid that resolution,” explained CEC President Christopher Spinelli.
Originally passed by the council last spring, the resolution was sent to the city Department of Education (DOE) as a plea to reconsider the ban.
It asserted, “Cell phones are not a superfluous luxury item but rather an integral and essential life-tool used to confirm the safety and whereabouts of their user/students, and thereby promoting the peace of mind of those who are responsible for them, something parents and guardians and caregivers are entitled to at the very minimum.
“Many of the students of District 22 use cell phones to remain in touch with their parents and guardians throughout the day to assure those caregivers that they are safe and well, and to advise of any change in plans, and to generally let it be known that they are where they are supposed to be.”
Members of the CEC still maintain that cell phones are a vital lifeline between parents and children who travel to school early in the morning and often attend after-school programs or work in the afternoon.
Michael Benjamin, a member of the CEC, said it is “ridiculous in this post-9/11 world” to not allow children to have direct access to their parents in case of emergency.
“It belies logic to cause them to not be able to communicate with their parents,” he said.
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