| Releases & Statements
For Immediate Release: May 08, 2006
Contact: Frank Sobrino, Press Secretary
O: (212) 669-4193
After hearing from parents fearing
for their children’s safety, Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum
today called on the schools chancellor to relent on the recent
cellphone crackdown and develop a policy that recognizes parents’
and students’ reliance on the phones as a vital communication
tool, especially in emergencies.
Calling the 1988 regulation prohibiting
students from carrying “beepers and other communication
devices” dated, the public advocate called for allowing
principals and teachers to use their discretion in curbing inappropriate
cellphone use until a new policy is in place.
“Parents are angry, and rightfully
so,” Gotbaum said. “With the school year nearly over,
now is not the time to begin vigorous enforcement of a dated regulation.
Instead, the time until the start of the new school year should
be used to develop an updated policy. Listen to parents. Make
it clear when cellphones can and can’t be used, and then
enforce the rules. A sensible strategy for tackling inappropriate
cellphone use shouldn’t be a cause for alarm to parents
or a threat to students’ safety.”
Among the parents voicing their concern
to Gotbaum was Bambi Everson, whose autistic daughter attends
a public high school. The teen commutes by subway from either
her mother’s house in one borough, or her father’s
house in another, to her school in a third borough.
“Without a cellphone, my daughter
couldn’t possibly travel safely to and from school everyday,”
Everson said. “Hopefully, common sense will prevail and
a reasonable policy will be developed that recognizes how important
cellphones have become for parents.”
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