by 
Cell Phones are interesting inventions. In some ways, we are now able to do things and have conversations in ways that we have never had them before. We are able to call home to ask our wives exactly what we were supposed to pick up at the grocery store, call when our cars break down, and annoy people around us because we seem oblivious to the world around us.
They’ve also let us keep in touch with our children better than ever before. Whole families can be reached wherever they may be. This may be a plus or a minus. Teens, however, seem to not be able to live without this technology. One wonders how their parents ever survived.
In light of the current mood of the culture– that since they are going to do it anyway we might as well help them– I would like to give the following advice for what teens can do in different circumstances.
In the case that your school bans cell phones, the New York Daily News has some suggestions on how you can get phones into your school anyway:
- “‘It isn’t hard for girls at all. We just put the phone in our underwear,’ said Veronica Abreu, 16, from Martin Luther King High School in Manhattan. ‘If the metal detector goes off, they only search your lower legs and upper body[.]'”
- “Girls said they also sneak them in for the boys.”
- “You take the cell battery out, put it in your book bag, then you stick your phone where the sun don’t shine[.]”
- “[H]ide … phones in their shoes, belts, bras and even the scaffolding surrounding the building.”
- “[L]et friends in through side doors”
- “Take their phones apart and hide the batteries to throw off metal detectors”
- “‘I put it in my bra area,’ 17-year old Jasmine Marshall admitted, then shrugged. ‘I don’t think there’s any face value to it anyway. What are they banning cell phones for?'”
What a brilliant piece of logic that last suggestion was– since I don’t know why there’s a policy that gives me the right to skirt it since I deserve to know, understand and accept all policies!
Once inside, make sure to show all your friends that you too can be rebellious. Take chances in classes by leaving your loudest ringtone on. Feel free to pass test answers via text messaging. Make sure that you take pictures of people and things around you– especially of people in the bathroom.
And above all, don’t even think that maybe you could live without, that there actually is a good reason to not have them in the classroom, or that adults are asked to respect meetings and classes they attend– it’s just something that they’re doing to insult you and control you.
I have a cell phone, but definitely not one of the fancy phones everyone seems to have. I very rarely use. I keep it on just in case one my boys schools calls me. I used to keep it off all the time and missed an emergency call from the school.
Other than that, I don’t like to use it. It is really for emergency use, and semi-important matters.
Apparently some schools block cell phone reception for the entire building, as do some employers.
I never would have anticipated some of the opportunities and challenges that having cell phones has brought. For example, until grandma thought my daughter needed a cell phone, for safety since she drives of course, I always assumed we would be able to screen any calls from boys. Hmmmm …
However, she has also used it as an evangelistic outreach tool, using text messaging to ask a series of questions about spiritual beliefs for an AWANA project.
It’s something to think about.
We got one way back in the day…when they came in a bulky big case…Then, we decided it really wasn’t necessary…so we went 5-plus years without one. Then dh’s boss decided he wanted to be able to reach dh whenever so he bought him one and pays the cell bill!
I really didn’t know how I’d get along without one when we gave up the first one, but honestly, I haven’t missed it once! (Well, it would be handy now and then, but definitely not necessary!)
Personally, I just don’t get it. I don’t understand why a kid needs a cell phone. *shrugs* We have one, but only because DH needs it for work.
I agree with you Jenna– I don’t think that there’s a need there. If someone needs to get a hold of a parent, they can certainly go to the office and use the phone. I mean, how in the world did we manage before everyone had one!
Now, I can definitely see the reason for having one going on a trip (especially by oneself) or if you have a job that you aren’t close to a land line. It’s important– like Leticia indicated– that we be able to be contacted in case of emergency.
I get the feeling, though, that these are not emergency cases.
Interesting suggestions! I think I could live w/o a cell phone, but I enjoy being in communication with others.
I hope you realized by revealing strategies to sneak a cell phone in you also revealed strategies to sneak illegal objects in too.
Good point, Lenny. Certainly, these ideas were not my own– as I stated they are from the New York Daily News. The good part about showing them is that at least we can know of these tactics and plan for them– whether cell phones or worse.
Cell phone is a must here, almost. Now it has become a whining object for my older son, and I am no part in it, though he is a sport and tries to be an extremely plite boy for 31 days in order to “earn” a phone. Why, you might ask? Well, ’cause everybody else has one…. (that is his mantra, not mine).
However, he goes to visit his friends and sometimes looses track of time, we do not know exactly where he is, so this will be a good way to bring him home, I think…
Schools with metal detectors?
🙁
Isn’t there a system that transmits a jamming signal so that cell phones simply do not work in a given area?
I know that the technology exists, but I’m not sure that they can do it in the US without a permit or the cost.
Schools with metal detectors have been around since Columbine, but probably not in the UK?
I don’t know. It is possible they have them in one or two places in England – although I am not aware that any do, but not in Wales.