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Principal Installs Cellphone Jammer But Forgets To Check If It's Legal
from the whoops,-forgot-about-that-law-thing dept
Many educators are having trouble figuring out how to handle electronic devices in the classroom. Some have been educating students on the negative effects, encouraging them to regulate their own use. Others have even highlighted possible applications for mobile devices in the classroom. Though, many just try to ban everything. A principal in British Columbia took his school's ban to a new level by setting up a cellphone jammer. There was just one problem -- the device is illegal in Canada. The principal had ordered the Chinese device online, but some angry students were quick to find out and inform him that he was breaking the law. So much for that idea. Now, he's left looking pretty bad while cellphone use in school now seems like some kind of civil rights issue to some students.
It seems like this is less about the cellphone ban and more about maintaining authority in the school. On that front... this completely backfired. Plenty of schools have effective cellphone bans without resorting to technological blocks (I attended such a high school). Maybe the principal should explain to students and teachers why cellphones are a problem, set some reasonable guidelines for use and some reasonable consequences for violations of the policy. That would probably go a lot further to establish the principal's authority and gain his students' respect than installing an illegal device and being forced to backtrack ever could.
Blaise Alleyne is an expert at the Insight Community. To get insight and analysis from Blaise Alleyne and other experts on challenges your company faces, click here.
Reader Comments
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what id like to know is why are cell Phone Jammers are illegal.
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Re:
Because they transmit on the same spectrum as the cell phones themselves and that spectrum is owned by either the government or the phone company.
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Re: Re:
Because they transmit on the same spectrum as the cell phones themselves and that spectrum is owned by either the government or the phone company.
Or the public.
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Re: Re: Re:
Regulated by the government
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Because YOU don't have the right to prevent other people from legally using the radio spectrum.
What if there was an emergency and people couldn't get calls in or out of the area because some douche was playing with his latest radio shack experiement? Lawsuits would fly -- at least in the US.
If the school has a no cellphone policy, the way to enforce it would be the good ol' fashioned way -- turn it over and you can pick it up in the office when you go home for the day.
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Re: Re:
Most of these arguments would make sense if landlines didn't exist.
What did people do before cell phones and they had an emergency? They didn't run to get their cellphones, that's for sure. They ran to the nearest land line.
Last I checked, cell phone jammers don't block landlines.
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Re: Re: Re:
Picture this, if you will. I'm taking a walk in front of the school and my cell phone suddenly cuts out because of the jammer. Why on earth should I be affected by some half-brained, poorly-thought attempt to get kids to stop texting in class?
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Re: Re: Re:
I agree that the emergency call argument is weak, but also irrelevant.
As someone else asked, what right do YOU, or anyone else, have to prevent another person from making lawful use of radio spectrum pursuant an FCC license (held by the carrier in the case of cell phones)? I suppose if there was a machine that could limit the jamming JUST to the phones of students, and JUST to the premises of the school building, there might be an argument. But no such jammer exists. They block everyone's calls, including visitors' and teachers', and they jam or interfere with calls near, but outside, the school's property.
Bottom line: absent an FCC regulation or federal statute, a school administrator does not have the authority to prohibit what the federal government (via the FCC) expressly permits -- use of licensed frequencies for commercial mobile service.
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Re: Re: Re: Re:
and hereto lies the problem...
who ever said that high school students have "rights"? this idea spawned in the 60's with the rest of the crap thats ruining the country, is THE problem. I'm not talking about basic fundemental rights. But is it a RIGHT for a HS studrent to be able to use a cell phoine in school? absolutely NOT. At that age they confuse rights with privledges. Let me end with this.......how did this country get by all these years and spawn some of the greatest people this country has ever known and WILL EVER KNOW without cell phones in schools? Seems to me its just all part of the decline of education in America and the dumbing down. Sad indeed.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Well, high school students have rights in the sense that they're citizens too (albeit mostly underage), but I agree, that has very little to do with cell phone use. The problem though with this principal's approach is that he's just added fuel to the "rights" thing by breaking the law trying to enforce the ban.
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Re: Re: Re: Re:Jammers
> I suppose if there was a machine that could limit the
> jamming JUST to the phones of students, and JUST to the
> premises of the school building, there might be an argument.
> But no such jammer exists. They block everyone's calls,
> including visitors' and teachers', and they jam or interfere with
> calls near, but outside, the school's property.
There is a way to do this, but probably not for a school setting. Let's take this argument from a school to a movie theater, where inappropriate cell phone use during movies has basically driven myself and everyone I know away from the movie-going experience.
It would be a simple matter to install a jammer with an operational radius of only so many feet, such that it would encompass the majority of seats in a theater but no more than that. If the theater owner than posted signs at the box office and on the theater doors that cell phone jammers are in use inside the theaters, then people would be on notice that they would either have to get up and go to the lobby to make calls, text people, etc. or they could go find somewhere else to watch the movie if being able to read every single e-mail or take every single call in real time is that important to them.
Seems perfectly reasonable to me (it is the theater owner's private property, after all) but such a set-up is currently illegal. I don't think it should be illegal.
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And jammers prevent emergency calls from going through
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Emergency calls got through long before cell phones were carried by 90% of people today.
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wow, people. Jamming is illegal because of its negative effects on the spectrum including legal, and necessary communications not just for the students. Though these kids shouldn't have cell phones in class in the first place, there had to be a smarter solution, such a confiscation or suspension program for students with cell phones in class. A Faraday cage system might have been effective as well and would not hold the legal issues. Ultimately the school needs to teach these kids to put their toys away when they are supposed to be working.
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It doesn't work, they still will use them. Teachers will get 2/100 which are being used. Towards the end of the week they get tired of conficating cell phones so they don't. Swearing becomes more 'open', and other innapropriate activities are permitted, in crisis. When there is a situation they cannot clone themselves. Having the students dis-like you will get the teacher eventually fired. Last Cell phones are not toys. They can be dangerous, as batteries can explode, ignite.
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thx guys for the explanation.
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YEAH!
YEAH! Score one for the REBELLION! I love it when authority figures LOSE!!!!! Can You Say "Ferris Beuller"
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Re: YEAH!
err yeah bro - right on, power to the people, or something
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Re: Can You Say "Ferris Beuller"
No. how DO you pronounce that?
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In the U.S. Schools and Government Buildings can use cell phone jammers with permit by the FCC and other agencies. Cell phones are consider a hazard in threats to the school. It brings others into a dangerous area. Cell phones use could also set of devices. So it is good to hear a principal was trying to do the right thing.
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Just Not true...
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jammerz r just the tip of the iceberg
Police forces around the globe wish they could have a kill switch for cameras, including those in cell phones.
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Re: jammerz r just the tip of the iceberg
There ARE jammers that stop the cities camera's from transmitting there data, as all the ones in my city do it wirelessly, mine is the size of a pack of cigarettes and has about a 200 meter radius. So when I am within 200 meters of the cameras they stop sending the data to the monitoring station, and since the recording is done at the receiving end, there is no record of me walking through.
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Cement...
Sadly, our school manages to jam our signal without using jammers, our school being in Canada. Something about the walls or something...
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Re: Cement...
Faraday cage
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Re: Cement...
We just recently built a bunch of schools in Georgia and Florida that incorporated permitted jamers and faraday cages around the entire building. Not only that, we built in Killzone security zones where students are locked into a lexan room and have to turn over all of their belongings for search. This prevents all contraband in the building. The staff and faculty also have their own entrance where they are searched for items. This prevents any kind of contraband from entering.
The great thing about the killzones is that students are in a protective environment and cannot leave in the event they are found to have banned or illegal substances. They remain in the zone until the police arrive. This prevents harm to others in the process as well.
Another feature is that Students are not allowed to leave the buildings during school. They have to be let out by the security officers at the door with proper ID and paperwork allowing them to leave. So ditching school after homeroom is gone.
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Re: Re: Cement...
You, sir, have just given the best justification I've ever heard to never put my kids in a public school. What you described isn't an educational facility, it's a prison.
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Re: Re: Re: Cement...
It's sad to see how someone is so selfish that they feel that if they have enough money to circle themselves in a tiny little world, they can ignore everything that's going on outside their world.
I understand your desire to protect your child but it's demeaning to call a public school, where majority of people in this world attended, a prison. Yes it's very draconian, but you seems to ignore why this kind of measure is needed. It's not the school that failed, but it's the society and the parents, especially the parents, failed.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Cement...
> I understand your desire to protect your child but it's
> demeaning to call a public school, where majority of
> people in this world attended, a prison
I attended a public school and it was nothing like the hell that was described above. Any time you have students in things called "kill zones" and the faculty itself is being patted down each day, then you're no longer running a school. It *is* a prison and yes, that's a demeaning term but it's also an appropriate one. Such a facility deserves to be demeaned.
Hell, I'm a cop myself so I'm certainly not anti-law enforcement but like Dustin, I'd certainly never send any of my kids to an institution like the one described in the initial response above.
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Re: Re: Cement...
... satire?
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Yeah...tough one. I feel bad for the guy. What with students acting lke they run the school these days and parents who dont reinforce what the school is doing, makes it very difficult for the school. Then those same people are quick to blame the school when their kid turns out to be a moron. Cell phones/PDA's have become a drug of sorts to many of these kids. They are obsessed with them because their brains have been programmed by the big cell carriers, who are akin to drug dealers. Now I know there are still alot of good kids who follow the rules. But witha wife who is a HS guidance coulselor some of the things I hear...using phones/PDA's to cheat, to take upskirt shots of girls and send them around to everyone within minutes, takie pics of them having sex somewhere in the school as a joke or just texting all day back and forth to their friends who they just saw at lunch. They are a big problem and a distraction and the kids know how to get around the rules. (Think when you were in HS). The only way to guarantee they aren't a problem is to jam. Solves the whole problem. Only thing I have an issue with is during an emergency, I could care less about the cell companies owning the air space. The jamming is local. They just dont want to lose one precious cent of revenue...the kids wont be able to use their "drug". Dont piss off the drug dealer!
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The best solution is to take the phones from the students if they are being disruptive. If they are just distracting them selves teach the class in a way that they will fail for not paying attention. How could this be done put things on the test that were only in the lecture and not the book and if the class is not paying attention do a pop quiz in the last 5min of class that covers the material just taught.
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cell phones in schools
students use cell phones to make drug deals, plan fights, leave school and commit crimes, and cheat. They could care less about an F.
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Solves the whole problem? Really? Sounds to me like the electronics are just a means through which bad behaviour is expressed, not the cause of it. That's treating the symptoms. You don't think there are ways to misbehave without electronics? Would you ban pens and paper if kids draw mean pictures to make fun of teachers or other students or pass notes in class?
Is this a technological problem or a behavioural problem?
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Hysterical
I think there's an inherent amount of humor that goes along with someone from an older generation trying to use technological means to prevent a younger generation from using a particular piece of technology. Can't you just sense that the old guys are gonna lose?
I mean REALLY, Mr. Belding? You're really gonna rest your hopes on keeping kids from using wireless devices w/a cell phone jammer? You, and I'm assuming you look like the admin from The Breakfast Club here, are going to utilize technology to inhibit the use of other technology by the generation that single handedly is redefining the music/entertainment industry?
Well best of luck to you, ey?
And, btw, Blaise Alleyne? That's the single coolest name I've ever seen. Sounds like the French name of a superhero that shoots fire out of his ass or something....
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Re: Hysterical
LOL. I'll take that as a compliment? I get a lot of comments about my name (usually, "is that your real name?" or "blaze? do you smoke pot?")... but that was one of the most original I've ever heard. Nice one, Tgeigs.
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If I were a teacher...
any student caught texting or using their phone in class (especially during a test) would automatically get an F for that assignment/test. I would make that known ahead of time. If there is an emergency then make it known and it can be taken care of.
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Aren't there other, legal ways to disrupt cellular service? Like heavy metal based coatings on the roof of the building?
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Get off my lawn!
When I was in high school, cell phones were still the domain of rich businessmen, were larger than a breadbox, and were "portable" either by being carried by two hands or installed in a vehicle. A cell phone on a student in a high school just didn't happen.
Great, I feel really old now.
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Most police have cameras themselves
I know there are bad cops out there, but most police business is filmed all the time by the dash cam, even when it turns out bad for the officer or police force.
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I distinctly remember the only reason Denver Police found out about the Columbine shooting was students with cell phones, as the first thing the shooters did was shoot up the office. I got out of school on a half day and it was all over the news that afternoon live. Seriously I do not see how cell phones can be a bad thing. I understand they can be a bad thing if students refuse to turn them off, but to have them?
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Safe and Legal Alternative
Jamming poses a serious safety risk for the students, staff, and anyone else that the jamming range bleeds over too. It's a draconian way of trying to fix the problem - it blocks all signals on all phones.
Blocking the signal with special paint or trying to block it with metal roof liners, etc. is also a security risk for anyone in the buildings. Parents would be very upset if they couldn't reach their children in an emergency and it leaves the school open to liability.
There is a need to limit phone functionality on a controllable level and we've invented such a product: Zone of Silence (www.zoneofsilence.com). ZoS is an elegant way of controlling individual functionalities on mobile phones. For example, schools can limit the student's cell phones to only call/text their parents while allowing the staff's cell phone to work unrestricted. Or, they could restrict all phones, or maybe just the camera from working in the locker rooms. More importantly, 911 is never blocked. In an emergency, our device is shut down remotely to allow all phones to go back to an unrestricted state.
We are several months from a commercial version but please visit our website's contact us page to be kept up to date on progress.
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Re: Safe and Legal Alternative
Looks like a great service.
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Re: Safe and Legal Alternative
Shenanigans. There is no freaking way that you can claim to have that kind of root-level control of cell-phones, much less PDAs and other devices. The only way I could even VAGUELY see something like this being attempted would require modification of software on the devices which opens an even bigger can of worms.
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faraday's cages / hurricane proof buildings
cell phones don't work indoors at a lot of schools in florida regardless of jammers. because a lot of schools are used as hurricane shelters, many were built with extra plating/girders in the walls/ceiling and it's difficult to get a signal through at all. many schools were rebuilt or reinforced after the last few heavy hurricane seasons too.
but also remember that florida schools are not designed like schools up north. most florida schools just have the classrooms indoors. all the hallways are open air, even on the second floor.
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out of control
I wonder why not a lot of people be sympathetic to the principal? To go to this kind of extreme you can just imagine how many other methods he has tried.
Yes, it would seen to be more appropriate to attempt to "reason" with the students and try to "educate" them about why one should not use cellphones during class/at school. But seriously people, all of you have been teenagers before. Have you ever really listened to your parents/teachers/figure of authority and happily accept all these rules and regulations they said is good for you?
I am not saying the principal should be doing this but I do believe that cellphone really have no place in a school setting. One of the girl interviewed at the school argues that she needs it in case of an emergency. I fail to see how emergency an "emergency" would be that a parent cannot call the school to relay the message. it's not like the staff will withheld the message for a couple hours before contacting the student. other way around, it's easy for school to contact the parents' cellphone is something comes up. Honestly, how many people truly believe that this girl would only use the phone just for emergencies... she'll probably use it for some sexting if that's the trend in the school. She even admit it herself that she's using it in class to organize events after school with friends...
It's so easy to spot the error of the principal. However, if YOU truly are a PARENT that cares about your children, you should ask WHY this is happening and if this is INDICATIVE of something that's happening and HOW you can HELP, in legal ways, instead of letting the principal and school facing this battle themselves and fail. After all, it's your children that gets HURT when the school fails.
If a principal had to go to this kind of extreme to control a problem, YOU AS A PARENT HAVE ALREADY FAILED YOUR CHILD.
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Re: out of control
willyu, I agree with you for the most part (especially that parents should take responsibility too).
But there's one thing I disagree with:
I certainly don't think you can expect all high school students to be reasonable, but... I think the issue is that, as an authority figure, you want (and need) the respect of your students in order to maintain your authority. That doesn't mean that they have to like you (they probably won't!), and it may even largely be out of fear, but they have to respect you, to take you seriously.
And... how can you expect someone to respect you, if you don't respect them?
This incident backfired in a way that undermined that respect, in both ways.
To implement reasonable rules and consequences doesn't mean that you expect all students to persuaded by them, but that you can students to respect them, at least in general. For example, if the rule is "don't use a cell phone on an exam," students might disrespect the rules, but what reason do they really have in most cases beyond cheating? It's pretty hard to complain meaningfully when you get caught... But if your principal installs an illegal device to control your use, it gets students up in arms and grants legitimacy to their opposition.
I think the important thing when dealing with these challenges is that... what may seem to be the easy technical solution may undermine more important things, like building respect for authority.
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Re: out of control
If a principal had to go to this kind of extreme to control a problem, YOU AS A PARENT HAVE ALREADY FAILED YOUR CHILD.
As a high school teacher, I say AMEN to you willyu!
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At my school, cell phones are fine during breaks and lunch, but have to be off unless you're expecting a call and have talked with that teacher before class.
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"but have to be off unless your're expecting a call"....unbelievable.
(Teacher)So little Aiden what is the square root of 16?..(Little Aiden)..the square root of 16 is RIIIIING! (or worse yet some god awful rap song)....
(Little Aiden)excuse me teach I have to take this call its important...!! Can you just freakin imagine? The dumbing down of America continues.....
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Passive jamming is legal
Passive jamming is legal (faraday, paint, etc) so those who "feel" it's wrong start squirting your tears now.
Emergency!? please STFU!? Most reasonable people can detect the BS from that argument, what if the earth is consumed by stranglets, oh noes!!!
There is not one legitimate reason for students to have a cell phone, emergency is a bogus and hollow excuse. Frankly anyone claims the "safety" reason as a valid excuse is obtuse; if you're worried about safety then YTF aren't you homeschooling?
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I fully intend for my kids to have cell phones once they're in school. It may be one of those Firefly things or something, but I want them to have a phone. Yes it is a safety issue. I want them to be able to make calls in an emergency, and I want to be able to call them if needed (at least to leave a message or whatever).
And I would be mad as hell if some asshole principal or whoever blocked it or took it away without good reason.
Of course, I'm a responsible parent, and I will beat the shit out of my kids if they do stupid stuff they're not supposed to. Okay I won't really beat the shit out of them, but there will be appropriate punishment for misbehavior.
Anyway, yeah. Take the damn phones away when kids use them when they're not supposed to. Imagine that.
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Blockers are fine when used wisely
I break the law regularly. As a substitute teacher, students don't give me even a fraction of the respect normal teachers get. And since I'm usually in a class for just a day, there is no time to establish the "no cellphones" rule without ending up with an armful of phones each period and no time to get through the material. So I bought a jammer. It works great. And through careful experimentation, I've found that the jamming never extends beyond the walls of the room. This may not be the case for every jammer and every room, but with some careful planning, every teacher could have a personal jammer that does NOT interfere with anyone's signal except the students, and with an easily accessible on/off switch for when it is not needed or in an emergency.
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he should have checked his local regulations first
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I am a teacher, your idea to explain responsible cell phone use to teens is laughable, spend a week in a classroom, your tax dollars are paying for an endless text fest.
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I am still amazed at how many will flat out refuse to hand over the phone when politely asked. This is in a school where the policy is "one and done" -- which means the phone is taken to the office if I see it so much as out on the desk. The requisite verbal warnings before writing referrals are time out from working with those who want to learn.
Talking to my advisory group of 9th graders, I learned that many students (about 40 per cent) sent an average of 15,000 per month with their unlimited plans. Talking with colleagues, most guesses (about quantity of messages) were off by two orders of magnitude. Talking with my Honors class later that day, one of the upper classmen said, Oh, that's nothing, I once sent 28,000 in a month. Oddly enough these students had terrible academic records.
As for using the devices' non-messaging capabilities. Bah. The canard of "I'm using the calculator on my phone" is balderdash. I provide simple scientific calculators for every student. Don't like the policy? Too bad. Complain hard enough and you can use the six-foot slide rule that hangs on the wall.
I'm ready to line the walls in copper foil and/or mesh.
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cell phone jammers
Just as others with cell phones assume it is their right to use cell phones anywhere, including driving, it is also my right to protect myself from accidents and obtrusive conversations in close prosimity of my designated space. I have not sold or relenquished my rights to peace and quite for others to interfere with my solace. There are rights on both sides of the issue and I feel my rights are being taken from me when my life and privacy are violated. No business has the right to take my rights for profit or interference.
Legalizing jammers would not interfere with businesses selling their services, they just have to sell it outside my domain of privacy and safety. Jammers can save more lives and damage than it can serve as a 911 call that can be placed on land lines more safely.
The current FCC law was written decades ago before the burst of cell phones and maybe its time for some changes in that law to preclude others from interfering with safety and commerce and privacy. If the law doesn't fit then change the law and get rid of the archaic existing law.
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Jammer-Store is one of the best cell phone jammers suppliers un the world! Safe and secure shopping!
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