freeSpeech: Joanne Lessner

Mom Proposes Alternative Cell Phone Bans In Schools

(CBS)  There is no way I’m sending my 10-year-old son off to middle school without a phone. 9/11 happened on his second day of kindergarten. So for everyone who says, "kids have been going to school for centuries without cell phones," I would answer, "yes, but they didn’t live in a world where they were terrorist targets." The world has changed, and like mothers all over the country, I believe it is imperative that parents and children be able reach each other.

Here in New York, the mayor and the schools chancellor have categorically banned cell phones in schools because they say students use them to cheat on exams, sell drugs, and organize fights. Now I understand the Board of Ed's issue with cell phones, but what they're missing is that the basic function of a telephone is not what's causing problems in the schools — it's all the bells and whistles: text-messaging, video, photos, and fancy ringtones. And that gave me an idea.

The city should partner with a cell phone manufacturer and design a "city-approved" phone. Its only function would be to make and receive calls. Period. Those phones would be the only ones allowed in the schools. And one other advantage: Cities across the country could make money by selling these phones to students and pour the money back into the schools, which are dying for it.

Until there are working pay phones on every corner and in every school, my son will have a cell phone in his pocket when he goes to school — ban or no ban.


Joanne Lessner is a writer and singer who lives in New York with her husband and two children. She contributed the book and lyrics to the cult hit musical "Fermat’s Last Tango," which played Off Broadway in 2000 at the York Theater Company, and the musical "Einstein's Dreams," based on the novel by Alan Lightman. Both shows received productions at the Teatro da Trindade, in Lisbon, Portugal, and feature music by her husband, Josh Rosenblum, creator of the popular Off Broadway revue "Bush is Bad."

Joanne is one of the principal sopranos with New York City’s acclaimed Blue Hill Troupe, Ltd, now entering its 83rd season. She is also a regular contributor to Opera News magazine.

[drcip]

These phones already exist. They're called Firefly's. They have only emergency buttons and a couple buttons to call mom and dad.

[michaeldilli]

OK. I am a child of CBS News. Since 1963. I'm 53. I'm a journalist. I am trying to critique and give advice as warranted. But after I do, please don't contront viewers with a Free Speech as Ms. Lessner's. Please. She says children must have cell phones because we are post-9/11? My God. I grew up in Florida during the Cuban Missile Crisis. My grandmother who raised me would cringe to think it was a necessity to have a then unknown feature -- a cell phone. I'm still young, for crying out loud. Then this woman says government should get industry to "sell" cell phones with no features? Is this the twi-light zone? What about some common sense? What that is, maybe you can figure out. Oh, and what would Charles Kuralt say about an equally inane voiceover "My Cubicle.?" What would he say? Please afford me a short answer.
Michael Dillin, Neptune Beach, Florida.

[atlteacher]

While I can understand your concern for your son being able to contact you, I must question what you are teaching your son by defying the rules set down by the authorities. This is one of the many things wrong with our country today...too many parents setting a bad example for their children. How about going through the proper channels to try to get the rule changed? That would teach your child how to go about changing the system in the proper way. My school system allows students to have cell phones as long as they stay in the bookbag during the school day. Students can use them when they get to their afternoon destination to call their parents to report in. I do teach in an elementary school where students are not yet obsessed with cell phones, thank goodness. We do confiscate phones if students get them out during instruction or any other place in the building. Parents must come to school to pick up the phone if it is taken away from a student. There are other ways to deal with cell phones in schools I'm sure. There are ways to fix a total ban, but teaching your child to disregard authority is not the best way.

[twardell]

Bravo Joanne. I believe that your idea is excellent. I too want to be able to contact my child at school. The idea of organizing a specific type of phone that can be sold to parents/students and the money goes back into the school is fantastic! It their is a will, ther IS a way. You just have to find the right government and school officials that have the WILL.

[spotocko]

I have taught middle school for 16 years. Many of the schools have allowed students to have cell phones on AFTER school to contact parents, etc.
I think it is important to realize the main reason that you don't want every child to have a cell phone during an emergency. If EVERYONE calls 911 at the same time, how will the operators be able to handle the calls in a state of emergency?? Or if kids are all calling, how are the adults going to get through? Imagine the confusion...

[pianomanf]

Is this woman too young to remember the cold war. Nuclear weapons desinged to wipe out entire countries with one strike and the cuban missle crisis. My generation survived without cell phones, why not the next? In my opinion you would be opening up a whole world of uncharted non-sense! As if there are not enough distractions in the life of a public school student. Maybe she has forgotten the "teen-age years" ("I have two of them!!") I hope they fine her and everyone else that refuses to abide by simple rules and policies that are in place for good reason. She obviously is not a teacher!!

[snugal]

I teach junior high at a public school. I think this mother needs to understand that the rules apply to EVERYONE(including her son)!!!! We have reasons for banning cell phones. She must be one of the many mothers who try to call their child during the school day. She obviously has attachment issues!The fact of the matter is, even these so called "emergency phones" would be abused during instruction time!!We allow the children to go to the pay phone or the SCHOOL phone to call home in emergency situations. It scares me to think that she doesn't think that her child is safe without one. We try our best to protect the children at all cost. I would protect them before I would protect myself!!! If she really feels that they are unsafe at school than she should send them to private school.

[coachclifton]

As a high school teacher I would like to respond to Joanne Lessner's comments on freeSpeech. The cell phone issue is far more pervasive than it seems to anyone outside of a school. Students have one, two or even three cell phones that they use each day to communicate with friends, family and others. I appreciate the acknowledgement of the fact that students use the phones inappropriately. My issue with the comments is that today's situation with the fear of terrorist attacks is no different than any other generation's fear of: World War spillover onto American soil (Pearl Harbor 1940s), nuclear warfare (Cuban Missile Crisis 1960s), and Soviet attack (1980s). Each crisis in history, people trusted public education to teach their children during a time of heightened fear. Please trust your public school to teach your children and protect them as much as we can. Keep your cell phones home. We will make the right decision to dismiss or retain your student to ensure that he or she is safe during a time of struggle. If you must reach your student, call the school and we will contact your child. The largest problem that we have with cell phones is parents calling at inappropriate times. I have had numerous occasions when cell phones ring in class only to be followed by, "Mom, I'm in class." Please save the minutia for after school, or leave a message for the student with the main office. Let us do our jobs as educators and we will let you do your jobs as parents.

[jg4876]

I feel really awful for 911 parents in New York. The fear that drives them to overprotection must be horrendous. Since a cell phone cannot be used while class is in session and since a phone only allowing for outgoing and incoming calls could still be a criminal tool, the argument just doesn't wash.
These kids have been targets since long before 911.(Coulmbine) The cell pone isn't ofr your child's security. A cell phone won't stop a bomb blast, deflect bullets, or keep someone from breathing anthrax.
The cell phone is for YOUR peace of mind. So that if you hear of a threat you can get on the phone and wrap up in your security blanket.
Just remember that in a hostage situation if that cell phone rings it makes your child a target. If it rings while they are running away from something and they stop for that split second that costs them their lives how will you feel then.
If you want your children safe then train them on how to stay safe in emergencies. Give them real tools and skills to help them. A cellphone is not a survival tool. Its Mommy and Daddy's token try that makes them think they have done their job to keep their child safe.

PS. Its the cellphone that is putting the pay phone out of business. If Cellphones weren't so predominant you'd have those payphones around.

[dreamingirl]

Children have gone to school through all sorts of horrible events- World Wars come to mind - without cell phones so the post 9/11 argument does not move me I am afraid as a reason to need a cell phone in school. Parents are the ones who are now obsessed at being joined at the hip every minute. I find it amazing that I, an adult, can go through an entire day without checking my cell phone, and my high school students find 45 minutes an eternity.

[ejstrom1]

This woman has attachment issues. She is the same woman in everybody's office who answers her cell phone during work hours, on her employers time, thinking her call and her life are more important than anyone else.

WAKE UP your child is NOT special. He is just like everyone else...plain...regular..normal.

9/11 happened on his second day of school, and the terrorist won. He is being taught to live in fear and his way of life altered. That cell phone is not a shield it can't help him, and it can't save him.

Show the children the terrorist lost, don't live in fear. Live with caution. Let the children be children.

Cell phones do not belong in school

[dreamingirl]

Perhaps Ms. Lesssner might feel differently if her child were the one targeted in a particular bathroom because of an organized cell phone messaging blitz. (I teach in upstate New York, not even New York City and we have this problem regularly!) Or, when it comes time to get into college and things get competitive, her opinion may change when the teacher has to make sure that answers aren't going from desk to desk, throwing off the curve, and later class rank. Things change in the high school and yes, fights are organized by phone and teachers don't get invited. One of our main ways of preventing them used to be overhearing conversations but with cell phones, we lose that edge.
I haven't even begun to address how rude it is to have phones going off when class is going on. While I can't ban cell phones from my school, I CAN ban them from being out in my room and I do. 34 years of teaching gives me an air of authority and the students do listen. If I catch a phone out, the students can come retrieve it, with a parent, on Friday afternoon.

[dreamingirl]

My students wouldn't be caught dead with a Firefly phone because they are not cool, no matter who approved them. Kids are not going to have one phone for school and one phone for the rest of the time. It just won't work and I resent the idea that now educators should be in the phone business too! We have enough to do, doing what we are paid to do.

[chivato5]

Please - cell phones in school are not acceptable. The misuse is well documented. Schools now have sufficient resources to protect the student body as well as to communicate with emergency services and parents. Stop the cellphone madness.

[joy2lewfrank]

I can't understand why some mothers think childern should have cell phones in school. I have a seveenten year old and I don't allow her to have one at all! Now this mother wants the city to allow her son and every other child, to have one! Does she have any common since? Does she want her son to learn or dosn't she care about that! All she is worried about is letting her son have a cell phone for her own comfort! Wait until her son is a teen-ager!

[rqrobinson]

Give me a break.... Teach your kid that it's ok to break the law... you are setting a wonderful example in saying that he will be carrying a phone, ban or not. You are the kind of parent every police officer and teacher just loves to deal with. NOT!

[protocoldrd]

Katie,(Sorry, posted in wrong spot, 1st blog in my life)
I agree with Joanne Lessner's opinion completely and have for many years. When cell phone use in schools was somewhat of a controversy in the early nineties, I was probably the first to remind teachers of the horrors of April 19 when my kids were even innocently caught with a cell phone on their person and made to surrender it. This date is important because before there was 911 there was Columbine. I live in Colorado and periodically meet on the streets those who experiecned that tradegy, and will never forget those who were terrorized at that school. That traumatic experience hit so close to home that I indeed have felt that keeping my kids within cell phone reach gives me some comfort. While proportionatley not as large of a loss I continue to feel the same trauma with Columbine as I do with 911. Shock-Sorrow-Sadness.

Posted by protocoldrd at 08:26 PM : Sep 15, 2006

[sammiew]

Ms. Lessner needs to get a grip on reality. A cell phone in the hand of a child at all times is simply NOT a necessity. Schools are doing the only thing they can by banning students carrying cell phones. It%u2019s very, extremely simple and ALL schools have this in place. In a "NEED" basis students simply to the office to make the call.
Her idea for cell phone providers/limited use phone is ludicrous. The phone is not the problem; it%u2019s the parents giving children phones without control. Parents thinking that they can call their child and ask them where they are, what a false sense of security. Unless they have GPS, children LIE. Her argument that she needs to be able to contact her son at any time is ridiculous. Does this mean while he is in class, supposed to be paying attention and learning? She needs to wake up and possibly go visit the schools and see what actually goes on.
Cell phones are great devices of our century, but they are causing many, many problems. Schools are for learning. Cell phones are not a necessary item for ANY student!
Phones in class are a distraction.
There is a place and time for everything, but I'm sorry Ms. Lessner, cell phones in schools, not the place, not the time.

[pbamk]

My daugher and I just saw the free speech segment and we wanted to let people know that in most schools in California cell phones are not banned. The use of the cell phone is restricted to before school and after school only. We thoroughly educate the students regarding this policy and the sudents follow the rule. I think the key is educating the students on the proper use of the phones.

[flyinstew]

As a former teacher...Joanne Lessner is a teacher's worst nightmare. A liberal pain in the ***...who knows nothing about teaching...only about her own kid's needs. Frankly Joanne...spend a day in an inner city classroom and get real about-what's going on...and realize it's time to conform to the rules. And God help your son....with an overbearing clinging Mama like you. My suggestion to her son...join the military and jettison clinging mamam.

[bunnyday-2009]

Joanne Lessner's argument is something of a red herring as cell phone immediately went out in Manhattan on 9/11

[ajw03446]

All the people who think cell phones should be banned in school are crazy. School is not a safe place anymore. I went to a SUBURBAN UPSTATE NEW YORK SCHOOL, and within a two year period, we had over thirty bomb threats, someone set one of our men's room on fire, another student brought a LOADED GUN to school (to sell), and a young woman had a hit list. So any parents and educators that believe that cell phones should be banned in schools are asking for trouble. This is 2006, not 1976... things are different now! Also, much like the California schools, we were allowed to carry cell phones, but could not use them between 7:30 am - 2:00 pm (school hours).An for the woman who has the 17 year old daughter: you may want to consider buying her a cell phone, at least to know that she is safe when she is not at home, because if you don't care about her beging safe, you are not a good parent.

[ajw03446]

THIS COMMENT IS POSTED BELOW:

<<Please - cell phones in school are not acceptable. The misuse is well documented. Schools now have sufficient resources to protect the student body as well as to communicate with emergency services and parents. Stop the cellphone madness.>>

I THINK ITS PRETTY CLEAR FROM MY LAST COMMENT, THAT SCHOOLS CANNOT PROTECT THE STUDENT BODY!!

[cwfldf]

I just purchased a cell phone for my 10 year old grandson. I don't think it is appropriate for him to have it on during school hours, but feel it is a good thing to have before and after school hours. If he feels threatened at all in a situation he can call his family or the police. In today's world I don't think you can be too careful. There are people out there that our children need to be protected from. He is an only child and is not always in the company of an adult or other children in his daily activities. I think a cell phone is very appropriate if used in the manner it was meant.

[underlings]

9/11 had nothing to do with terrorists targeting kids; they targeted a business icon.

Lessner's point might have made more sense if she'd mentioned Columbine instead of 9/11, but even using that as a basis for permitting cell phones in school would be absurd because the odds of children being subjected to such a terrorist attack are statistically about as significant as winning the lottery. Add up all the people in the US who have died as a result of terrorist attack in the past 10 years and it's well under 4,000. In that same period probably more than 400,000 people have died in car accidents. Yet you don't see parents pushing for a ban on putting children in cars. Why is it that people have such a warped sense of risk management?

What significant difference would it make if children had cell phones on them during a terrorist attack? This isn't about making children safer; it sounds more like it's about parents wanting to be able to quickly call their kids to affirm that they're all right--in other words, parents looking for instant peace of mind. Is that really worth the daily hassles cell phones in schools cause?

Finally, how long do you think it would take for manufacturers to come up with cell phones that LOOK just like the "approved" call-only phones, but really contain all the cleverly concealed bells and whistles that are causing all the problems in schools?

[ejstrom1]

In response to times are different now.

Times are not different. We had bomb threats in the 70's, we had boys room fires, we had riots, and we even had a student kill another in shop class.

the differnce

The MEDIA didn't glorify and report everything from all parts of the country. Information didn't travel at the speed of light as it does today. These things happend and we never knew about it.

finally,

Remember kids want cell phones to be cool, not to talk to thier parents.

[dgisby]

What kind of freespeech is this? When i learned of the censorship given to Bill Maher when asked to do a segment on freespeech and he chose religion he was told that is a subject CBS won't allow and was given a list of acceptable subjects to discuss. FREESPEECH? Are you kidding?

Another viewer bites the dust. Sorry Katie, but you need to get a backbone. Either you are a journalist for free speech or not. Pandering to Bush doesn't do it for me or anyone else.

[snowbrd7]

Is this a real issue?

[dwsmith64]

It's my opinion that Ms. Lessner is no different than the terrorists she claims she is trying to protect her child from. Both are selfish, have no respect for the law, encourages others to join their mission of encouraging anarchy and simply want what they want with no regard to society as a whole.

I have to wonder how she began this incredibly ignorant path of thinking? She probably took Sprint's cell phone ad which claims that it has a Crime Deterrent feature too literally.

[ajw03446]

Responding Back to: ejstrom1

As much as anyone wants to believe that things have not changed from the seventies... truth is, they have. Schools do not have 1000 students for grades K-12 anymore... My school had 2500 students for 10th, 11th, and 12th grade. The ratio of teaches to students is not as good as it used to be. School is not safe, period. These are not just hall fights anymore, these are gun fights, knife fights, and gang fights... do you honestly think that a 50 year old teacher is going to be able to break up 3, 4, or more 16 year old studnts? No, especially 16 year olds holding loaded guns.

On top of that, even after my school had the 30+ bomb threats (fyi, it was within 30 class days = 1 per day.), a restroom fire, someone bringing a loaded gun to school (you forgot that part in your comment), and a young woman with a hitlist... the school did nothing to add more security, except add another 50 year old security guard... Did we get metal detectors? no. Did we have random bag checks? no.

No security, students need cell phones in case of an emergency, which seems to be commom these days.

[kailumego1]

Black on black crime is disproportionately high in inner cities, in which black leaders have failed to affirmatively address. They reason poverty and racism as culprits, while dismissing the social apathy that exist.
Poverty may contribute to the moral decay and violence, but also, so does social apathy, which would be prevalent even if jobs, jobs, jobs were available.
And white leaders need to address the moral-decay, after all, Columbine, is not an inner city school.
School violence has reached beyond urban borders to affluent white suburbia, and white leaders need to come out of the %u201Cdark-ages%u201D and acknowledge, instead of insisting it%u2019s simply a %u201Cblack problem%u201D.
Both leadership needs to come out of denial and affirmatively address the problem, because it%u2019s not going away.
And giving student%u2019s cell-phones is merely a Band-Aid and not a solution.
The solution should rest on the shoulders of our leadership within communities, religious groups, local/state/federal government, and most of all %u201Cparents%u201D.

[kailumego1]

Although Ms. Lessner may have oversimplified the issue, she is correct about schools becoming more %u201Cdangerous%u201D.
She just forgot to mention %u201Chome-grown%u201D terrorism, which, by the way, we have more to fear.
It%u2019s so easy to jump on the %u201CIslamic-terrorism%u201D dialogue, while dismissing the reality of Americans killing Americans.
Schools are less safe than fifty-years ago, or even thirty-years ago, but it%u2019s not because of a possible %u201Cforeign%u201D terrorist attack. It is because of a lack of morals or empathy for others, poverty[not exclusive], commercialism.
Let%u2019s face it children are being taught less to value human life and converting more to violence and degradation.