Not allowing telephones and pagers to be carried by students in the
schools is one more example of the Glendale Unified School District's
approach to problem solving that puts appearance before substance.
Their stated thinking is that pagers and cell phones are tools of drug
dealers. So, if students have cell phones or pagers, they must be
criminals. Of course, they overlook the obvious! They, themselves,
administrators and teachers, stroll the campus with their communication
devices. Are we to assume they are all criminals by their own reasoning?
Just as you do not have to outlaw cars because some people use them
when robbing banks, you do not have to outlaw communication devices
because a few are utilized in the commission of crimes. There are laws
that cover drug dealing and bank robbing. Use them!
I see no reason pagers and cell phones should not be allowed if they
are turned off during class so as to not disturb others. I personally had
a very trying experience with the staff at Crescenta Valley High School
once, when I was delayed at work. I knew that I would not be able to pick
up my sons at the scheduled time. I knew that they would be left waiting,
not knowing that I was delayed and that they were without a ride home.
I called the school well before the end of classes and tried to get
someone to help. They passed me from level to level until one of the vice
principals absolutely refused to try to get a message to my sons. He said
that if they did it for me, he would have to do it for everyone. I was
really flabbergasted at that reasoning. What a terrible thought! Helping
everyone! Perish the thought! How could anyone consider helping everyone!
I finally called the on-campus sheriff's deputy, who, to his and his
department's credit, said he would be glad to communicate the message to
my sons. If my sons had been allowed to carry pagers or cell phones, this
incident would never have happened.
It is time the school district faced the realty of modern times and
stopped limiting the communication of students because of its assumption
that all students with communication devices are intent on criminal
activity. They are not. Many jut use their communication devices to
better communicate -- something the administration might try someday.
RON RUPPE
La Crescenta
