Column 65 for December 24, 2000

I hope Santa is good to you! I assume many teens in our county will be receiving their own pagers and cell phones under the Christmas tree. I wonder if you have any idea what this might imply.

Under current Georgia law, portable electronic devices are against the law in schools here in Georgia. If your child is found at school with one of these devices, they could be subject to criminal penalties, let alone the penalties assessed by the local school system. As with most laws, ignorance is no excuse. Say what?

These laws were passed at a time, nearly 20 years ago, when it was assumed that any teen with a pager was a drug dealer, just waiting for a "connection." Our legislature has been unresponsive to the changes in the communications world since then.

I’m divided somewhat on this issue. As a teacher, the last thing I want is for my classes to be interrupted by a pager "beep-beep-beeping" or for a cell phone to be ringing in what ever musical tune it has been programmed. Similarly, even if the notification is silent, I don’t want to be interrupted by repeated request to go to the office, or more slyly, to "use" the restroom… but really for other reasons.

The other side of my division on this issue comes from having my own children in school. As any parent knows, it is virtually impossible to get word to your child about anything, through normal channels, near the end of the school day. Most schools are limited, by budget, from having more than two or possibly three phone lines. If it’s my kid, I want to be able to get hold of them! I got really tired of repeated busy signals, time after time, until it was too late to accomplish my purpose.

I think we can reach a compromise. I think our children should be "de-criminalized." Let’s urge our legislators to change the law, acknowledging the progress in communications technology, and allow our children to have these devices in their possession, but still maintain penalties for any classroom disruption. Our children should be able to respond to our pages, at lunch, between classes, or at the end of the school day, really whenever they’re not under direct instruction. Anything less would be denying our fantastic advances in this communication technology. Remember it is we, the taxpayers, who really have the responsibility for deciding these issues. Call your Georgia legislator and get this change made!

Peace! …and I’ll page you… tomiswho@mindspring.com