Bad, evil, naughty law!
Word’s breaking out on Twitter that the Pennsylvania General Assembly has recently been presented with House Bill 363. I will henceforth refer to this as the Luddite Bill. The Luddite Bill wants to amend the PA Public School Code to say the following:
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.
Needless to say, I have a problem with this. First, I will let it be known that my school has a ban on cell phones, and, as a faculty member, I have enforced the rule by taking away the cell phones of students who use them during school hours. That rule is a decision made on the local level, based on the needs and wishes of the building administrators and the school board. I have no doubt that the rules could change over time or have some added flexibility. We already provide some of that, as students are now at least free to have their phones and use them after school as needed. This law would take that flexibility away from us. According to this law, with few notable emergency exceptions, students would not be allowed to ever bring a phone to school for any reason whatsoever.
A few years ago, I wouldn’t have thought this a big deal, but to take away the option of teachers allowing cell phone use in their classrooms to me now seems ludicrous. Right now we stand on the brink of a major shift in computing resources available to students in their pockets, with phones as powerful as a computer from only a few years ago. People who want to ban these tools really need to check out Cell Phones in Learning. Honestly, if you think we really want you to take away more teaching options from us, you re sorely mistaken.
As a starting point to work to stop this bill, I recommend contacting your legislator and signing this petition.
Update 1: for another perspective, check out Jimbo Lamb’s post here.
Update 2: Jim Gates, Steve Dembo, and Damian Bariexca also have their say.
Update 3: Liz Kolb gets unsurprisingly angry.
Update4: Chris Lehmann and Louise Maine contribute.
Update 5: Jill Machemer uses the word “decapitated” in her piece, and the incredulity to spreads to New York’s Lisa Nielsen and New Zealand’s Greg Carroll.
Update 6: I got mentioned by Techdirt! That got blogs Obsessable and Daily Online Examiner to say something about 363. Thomas Boito and Stefani Hite also chime in.
Update 7: Lisa Thumann tells how she first found out about the bill.
photo credit: albany_tim
February 12th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
This bill has me so worked up at the moment. And the fact that they introduced this on the last day of PETE&C is even worse. These legislators should have taken a 15 minute trip to Hershey to hear from those of us spearheading educational technology so they would have realized how stupid it is to try and ban these devices. Banishment will only lead to more problems. We need to educate our students about proper use of these devices, as well as use them to the benefit of education!
Jimbo Lamb’s last blog post..Cell Phones in Education: An obstacle
February 12th, 2009 at 7:37 pm
Good post, Dan.
If it is any consolation, we’ve got our share of Luddites here in NC too.
It makes me laugh because we don’t have the money to purchase class sets of dictionaries, but if we’d just allow our kids to text Google, we’d never need class sets of dictionaries.
Same thing with timers. I was doing a science lab this week and had no timers—which are nearly universal as extras on phones and ipods.
Been using free services like Gabcast for portable podcasting from phones too.
The list goes on and on and on.
Why can’t decisionmakers embrace phones as cost saving measures?
AARRGGH!
Bill
February 12th, 2009 at 10:51 pm
It’s funny. over the past year or so I’ve seen, first of all, more kids with phones…they’re nearly ubiquitous down through 6th grade now, it seems. In my special education class, which is made up of students who struggle both academically and socially, I know for a fact that at least half of them have cell phones, and they’re text messaging each other on the weekends.
I never really thought of the cost-saving aspects of phones, but it really makes a lot of sense. When every kid has internet access in their pockets, I don’t have to worry about how our school of 1500 only has one open computer lab and one mobile cart for basic research.
Hopefully, in this situation the legislators will listen to the people who are actually in the field before they do something like screw everything up for us. Fortunately, we’re using the technology right back against them…I would imagine almost everybody here in PA who’s upset about this bill found out about it from Twitter. I just happened to randomly check it on my iPhone in the middle of the day, and immediately went and hit up the legislature’s page to see the exact content of the bill for myself.
February 13th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
Will this bill apply the same rules to the Department as well? If it does it won’t last long I would guess …. lets see the administrators see how long they can do their jobs without cell phones, laptops, etc. Then a quiet word about applying the same logic to the people and institutions they oversee …
Sigh! Incredible how people can be SOOOOOO out of touch with reality.
Stand strong and best wishes from New Zealand
Greg
Greg Carroll’s last blog post..admin rights on your Mac laptop
February 17th, 2009 at 9:21 am
[...] eliminated in an entire state? I immediately went and checked out House Bill #363. I read through Dan Callahan’s post on the topic, Damian Bariexca’s sample letter and when I read Chris Lehmann’s post [...]
February 23rd, 2009 at 8:03 pm
I live 3000 miles away, and I am ticked off too! If they try it there, they’ll try it here in CA also. What idiot dreamed this up? In the first place, I am sick and tired of people treating kids like they are something less than a person with civil rights also. There is WAAAAAAAAAAY too much legislation in this country, and the government (which includes the public school system) puts their shiny little noses in way too many places they don’t belong. I agree a teacher should have the right to prevent distractions from learning during class (you wouldn’t let a student carry a portable cd player and play it during class either) but beyond that, what the students do is between them and their parents. (You know, those people who are “SUPPOSED” to be responsible for the proper care and raising of the children they brought into the world…) I am sick and tired of the government telling me what my kids can and can’t do! Arrggghhh!!!!!
February 24th, 2009 at 9:41 am
[...] of folks are up in arms over this one. This blog post (from Dan Callahan) pointed me to this petition that you can sign if you, too, are against this [...]
February 26th, 2009 at 11:04 pm
[...] of folks are up in arms over this one. This blog post (from Dan Callahan) points to this petition that you can sign if you, too, are against this bill. [...]