I hope this lawsuit is quickly dismissed, as schools should certainly have the authority to ban cell phones entirely if they wish -- but surely there's room for a compromise. There ARE situations in which children need to have cell phones either before or after school, such as this case:

Until he graduated last year, her oldest, Devin, 17, traveled more than an hour each way, taking two subway trains from their home in Brooklyn to Washington Irving High School in Manhattan near Union Square.

Her middle son, Andre, 13, also has an hourlong trip on the A and L trains to his public school, the Institute for Collaborative Education, at 15th Street and First Avenue.

Because Ms. Colon works full-time at Keyspan, the Brooklyn gas company, she relies on the older children to take care of the youngest one after school. Devin and Andre use their cellphones to coordinate who will pick up Taylor, who is going into fifth grade at Public School 261 in Brooklyn.

Why not ban all cell phones unless the parent writes a note to the principal explaining the need and giving the principal discretion? The default option would be that the student would have to keep the phone off (not on vibrate) during school hours, and in his/her locker or backpack. If the student is ever seen using the phone, even to check text messages, then the principal could require that the student drop off the phone in the principal's office at the beginning of each day, to be retrieved at the end of each day -- or simply ban the phone for good.

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July 14, 2006

School Cellphone Ban Violates Rights of Parents, Lawsuit Says

By ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/14/nyregion/14phones.html

Carmen Colon, a divorced mother raising three sons in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, considers herself a law-abiding citizen. But New York City’s ban on students carrying cellphones in the schools is one rule she will not abide by, she said yesterday.

Until he graduated last year, her oldest, Devin, 17, traveled more than an hour each way, taking two subway trains from their home in Brooklyn to Washington Irving High School in Manhattan near Union Square...