Blocking cell phone reception in a Movie theatre.

[IcePickFreak]

How did the world ever operate 15+ years ago.. kids with the baby sitter were dying, emergency heart-transplant candidates were dying, etc.. at least til the evening matinee got out.

I'm not sure how it would be a 'passive-agressive' approach when you're told no cellphone use and... you can't use your cellphone. D:

 

[DrPizza]

This comes up from time to time at the school I work at. Some teachers want a call reception jammer installed so they can keep the attention of the kids, but parents don't so they can reach their kids in an emergency. One of our teachers brought in a short distance jammer, and got in trouble for it.

To me it's simple, what did people do before cell phones? Parents called the office, the office called the room that the kid was in. It's a no-brainer for schools.

I agree wholeheartedly with your "to me it's simple." If cell phones are a problem in your school, it's the fault of the administration and teachers for putting up with it. First time a cell phone comes out in the classroom, it's taken to the office. The parent has to come pick it up. The parent is told that "if this happens again, the cell phone won't be returned until the end of the school year." Parents and students occasionally say "you can't do that." "Want to bet? The reason you had to pick up the cell phone is to inform you in person that the cell phone is a distraction that isn't allowed in the classroom. This is a matter of following due process - we're crossing our t's and dotting our i's. The district's lawyer has researched this, and case law thus far has confirmed that our written policy is not in violation of your rights."

Here's one such case - this one in Arkansas. Of course, at any time, some court is likely to reverse some other court's decision. http://educationtechnews.com/was-cell-phone-confiscation-ok/ There are bunches of other cases. I haven't seen one yet where the ruling sided with the student. NYC had a problem with an all-out ban; allowing them on school property, but forbidding their use during school hours (as well as following due process to make sure parents were informed) easily fixes NYC's problems.

Searching cell phones is another matter. There's all that "scope of the search" stuff, and other things to consider. Searching cell phones is in risky legal territory. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

 

[McLovin]

I work at a theater part time and I feel like 90% of the time I'm the only regular employee who enforces our theater policies, i.e. no outside food or drink, no cellphones, no talking, etc.

The rules for our theater are pretty the same as every other theater in the country. It absolutely floors me when I am the only one who actually chooses to help enforce these rules and how absolutely RUDE people are when you call them on it. No matter if I am at a 40 Hour job or at this part time gig, I am polite and professional as this is expected of me not only from my employer, but myself as well. If I ask you kindly to turn your cellphone off, please do it. Don't role your eyes and say "OK whatever" then have me come back 30 minutes later to find you doing the same thing.

Do I really have to tell you that you should not be smoking in the theater? Do I really have to ask you to pick up after yourself and not dump all your popcorn all over the floor? I understand how much I am asking of you to pick up the garbage you brought into the theater with you, but do you mind if I come over to your house and do the same thing?

The absolute WORSE people are the ones with kids. They pretty act like that since they are in public, I should be obligated to pick up after them and their kids. How bad of an example are you setting by leaving all your fucking garbage on floor? Do you really tech your kids to do this at home?

Yes, I understand I make minimum wage but you know what? I work my ass off to earn that money. I expect for you to treat me and all of your other fellow movie go-ers with the same respect I give you. I find it truly fucking pathetic that someone who is an adult should have to be reminded of this.

Oh and by the way, if a movie is rated R, please don't try to get around that. If you are a parent, you must buy the ticket and actually attend the movie with your child. If you are or look like you are 17 or younger, please be prepared to show your ID. If you don't have it, you are SOL. Your boyfriend/girlfriend is not your legal guardian or parent. We have people from movie studios who go around to different theaters around the country to check that we all enforce this. While there is no law that says we have to, if a movie studio finds out that we do not enforce this guidance, the studio can choose to pull any and all future releases from our theater.

 

[Veliko]

so wait...are there really self righteous freaks that believe a petty annoyance in a movie theater is worth risking someone's life?

What about emergency responders or doctors or anyone like that who are on call?

(Not to mention the FCC permits receiving radio waves, not interfering with them)

No-ones life will be put at risk if they block mobile phone signals in cinemas. Do you think that there was an epidemic of cinema-related deaths prior to 1998 or something?

 

[HOOfan 1]

Did anyone read the original post?

1) I said not to use jammers, but to use a faraday cage

2) I said there would be a choice of theatres which block signals and ones which do not


If a person must be reachable at all times, they go into the theatre which does not block signals. If a person is bothered by constant cell phone use in a theatre, they go to the theatre which blocks signals. That is a pretty simple choice (simple solution due to economic viability? I can't say).

Many comuter trains have a "quiet car" this acts in much the same manner. Call the auditorium with the blocked signal, the quiet auditorium. Heck when building new theatre complexes, divide them into 2 halves. Have different tickets for each half, and a ticket taker for each half. One half blocks signals and does not allow kids under 10, maybe even kids under 18 must be accompanied by an adult (this is common at many malls) the other half allows signals and kids can go to any age appropriate movie.

Is it economically viable? I don't know. Ignoring costs...I think this is a great solution.

 

[DougoMan]

You know what I think would be cool is if we put a gigantic jammer into low orbit and blocked cell phone reception is all 50 states.

God cell phones annoy me. Most obnoxious invention in the history of mankind.

 

[slag]

I would not be for this. I'm oncall 24x7 but still would like to see a movie at the theater from time to time. I can do this by putting my phone/pager/whatever on vibrate and check it from time to time in my pocket. I can block the light from bothering others when I do this 2-3 times a movie. The solution is to remove people who are being disruptive, whether its cell phone usage, talking, throwing food, whatever.

 

[HOOfan 1]

So you didn't conclude anything from the first thread, yet think miraculously that there will be a conclusion in this one?

I don't recall anyone in the thread I mentioned recommending a dual threatre setup.

There is certainly a conclusion from both threads (well internet forums in general). Copious amounts of time are wasted arguing on the internet, 90%+ of internet forum usage is arguing, and there will never be a solution to 99.9% of all internet arguements

 

[Paladin3]

Two thoughts about OP:

1. You can't complain that people texting in a movie theater are being inconsiderate when you are being inconsiderate to the polite movie goers who keep a phone in their pocket on vibrate and then leave to answer it. Everyone who pays for a ticket has rights until they abuse them. You are taking away the rights of the responsible to get at the irresponsible. There are no easy shortcuts for dealing with troublemakers, you have to confront them on a case by case bases. The next thing you will want to do is gag everyone so there is no talking.

2. No theater will ever adopt any policy that will decrease ticket sales, which this definitely would.

 

[DougK62]

It really doesn't matter either way. Putting a bunch of strangers in a room and asking them to be quiet is just a recipe for disaster. The obnoxious people will ALWAYS find a way to be obnoxious.

 

[JulesMaximus]

]Or how about the theatre just has a policy if you are caught using your cell phone and it's disruptive you get booted with no refund. It's free and maintenance proof technology.

I don't agree about the "if you go to a theatre then you shouldn't need a phone".

Ok. So what if I have a date night out with my wife and we leave our kid with a babysitter and the child has a major allergic reaction, accident, ect and they need to reach me ASAP? Should that be blocked too?

Common sense and common courtesy are all that are needed. Turn your ringer off and keep it closed unless something emergent happens and you need to leave the auditorum. If you can't follow those rules then you should be escorted to the door.

Agreed.

 

[Ancalagon44]

I'd be for this.

If I'm on call, guess what, I dont go to a movie! Shock horror! I take responsibility for myself and make sure that I'm actually in a position to do something about the emergency, should it arise. If I'm in a movie theater, what can I do about it? Borrow the managers laptop (Excuse me sir, this is a software EMERGENCY! People cant work here!). No, I make sure that if a call comes in, I'm close to my own laptop so I can do something about it.

A lot of people who are on call for emergencies seem to want to have their cake and eat it - go do fun things that put you far away from being any help but still have their cellphone available so at least they can be contacted. What good does it do? Even if I received a call and ran out, guess what, its distracting to other people.

Sadly a lot of people seem incapable of common sense and courtesy. If they were, then we wouldnt be having this discussion. And having someone strongarm someone who answered his phone out the theater is about as disruptive as the call in the first place, although I suppose long term that would mean such behaviour would decrease.

If there is an emergency with your child, they can do what they did in the old days - phone 911. What am I going to do for my child if I'm half an hour away, at minimum, and know nothing about first aid? if I hire a babysitter, I expect him or her to do what is right for the child, and that may include phoning the police, fire department, health services or me where appropriate. Phoning daddy is not always the answer - like as not an ambulance could respond quicker and give actual useful help instead of "it will be okay sweetie".

Yes I'd want to know, but my parents and their parents were okay with not knowing every aspect of their child's lives for 5 minutes. I think I can do that too.

 

[airdata]

They should just ban them outright. If you go to an early screening they search bags and strictly monitor it.

By all means, have some 16 year old theater employee look for people using their phone during the movie and force them to either power off or go put it in their car.

 

[Zargon]

I would not be for this. I'm oncall 24x7 but still would like to see a movie at the theater from time to time. I can do this by putting my phone/pager/whatever on vibrate and check it from time to time in my pocket. I can block the light from bothering others when I do this 2-3 times a movie. The solution is to remove people who are being disruptive, whether its cell phone usage, talking, throwing food, whatever.

this.

I am on call 24/7.

"sorry the 911 dispatching was down for 2 hours, I was seeing the new Fast and the Furious movie" :sneaky:

 

[slag]

I'd be for this.

If I'm on call, guess what, I dont go to a movie! Shock horror! I take responsibility for myself and make sure that I'm actually in a position to do something about the emergency, should it arise. If I'm in a movie theater, what can I do about it? Borrow the managers laptop (Excuse me sir, this is a software EMERGENCY! People cant work here!). No, I make sure that if a call comes in, I'm close to my own laptop so I can do something about it.

A lot of people who are on call for emergencies seem to want to have their cake and eat it - go do fun things that put you far away from being any help but still have their cellphone available so at least they can be contacted. What good does it do? Even if I received a call and ran out, guess what, its distracting to other people.

Sadly a lot of people seem incapable of common sense and courtesy. If they were, then we wouldnt be having this discussion. And having someone strongarm someone who answered his phone out the theater is about as disruptive as the call in the first place, although I suppose long term that would mean such behaviour would decrease.

If there is an emergency with your child, they can do what they did in the old days - phone 911. What am I going to do for my child if I'm half an hour away, at minimum, and know nothing about first aid? if I hire a babysitter, I expect him or her to do what is right for the child, and that may include phoning the police, fire department, health services or me where appropriate. Phoning daddy is not always the answer - like as not an ambulance could respond quicker and give actual useful help instead of "it will be okay sweetie".

Yes I'd want to know, but my parents and their parents were okay with not knowing every aspect of their child's lives for 5 minutes. I think I can do that too.

I'll respond to this because I feel it pertains to me. I'm oncall 24x7. That doesn't mean that I can't go to a movie, however. The chance that I'll be paged is very slim, but it is my responsibility to respond when I get a page. I am required to take my laptop with me wherever I go and I usually keep it in the trunk of my car. Its a 3 minute walk outside, power up the laptop, and do whatever is necessary. You shouldn't have to borrow someone's laptop to do your work. I'm taking my kids to go see Thor Friday evening. Laptop will be in the car in case I need to work.

"A lot of people who are on call for emergencies seem to want to have their cake and eat it - go do fun things that put you far away from being any help but still have their cellphone available so at least they can be contacted. What good does it do? Even if I received a call and ran out, guess what, its distracting to other people."

Not as much as taking a call would be. Someone coughs, its a distraction, someone sneezes, its a distraction, so what. It's really no different than going to fill your drink or popcorn tub. We LIMIT our distractions as to try to not bother others. Someone blatantly taking a phone call in the theater and talking to someone while in the theater is not trying to limit distractions. There is a difference. 3 minutes to my laptop is not "far from help". I don't think you've ever been in a situation where you've been oncall 24x7 and wanted to go do something because trust me, its very doable. You just have to make a few changes, but it becomes second nature. In my situation, work realizes that I shouldn't have to put my life on hold and sit at my computer waiting on a page. From your post, it sounds like you are on a rotating pager schedule which works for you.

Emergencies arise that aren't serious enough for 911 but the sitter feels the parent should immediately know about. Just because your parents did something in 19diggidy-do, doesn't mean that in this day and age there aren't better ways of handling the situation. Cell phones are a part of our culture, like it or not, and we just have to be cognisant of our surroundings.

 

[Veliko]

Two thoughts about OP:

1. You can't complain that people texting in a movie theater are being inconsiderate when you are being inconsiderate to the polite movie goers who keep a phone in their pocket on vibrate and then leave to answer it.

Yes we can complain. Just because someone is trying to call you on a mobile you don't have to answer it immediately. Turn it off.

 

[Ancalagon44]

I'll respond to this because I feel it pertains to me. I'm oncall 24x7. That doesn't mean that I can't go to a movie, however. The chance that I'll be paged is very slim, but it is my responsibility to respond when I get a page. I am required to take my laptop with me wherever I go and I usually keep it in the trunk of my car. Its a 3 minute walk outside, power up the laptop, and do whatever is necessary. You shouldn't have to borrow someone's laptop to do your work. I'm taking my kids to go see Thor Friday evening. Laptop will be in the car in case I need to work.

If its the kind of work that can be resolved with a laptop in a car, then a 2 hour turnaround time for problems should not be an issue. I really dont see why you required to reply to problems every second. It sounds like bad management to me. It comprises the quality of support you can deliver.

Not as much as taking a call would be. Someone coughs, its a distraction, someone sneezes, its a distraction, so what. It's really no different than going to fill your drink or popcorn tub. We LIMIT our distractions as to try to not bother others. Someone blatantly taking a phone call in the theater and talking to someone while in the theater is not trying to limit distractions. There is a difference. 3 minutes to my laptop is not "far from help". I don't think you've ever been in a situation where you've been oncall 24x7 and wanted to go do something because trust me, its very doable. You just have to make a few changes, but it becomes second nature. In my situation, work realizes that I shouldn't have to put my life on hold and sit at my computer waiting on a page. From your post, it sounds like you are on a rotating pager schedule which works for you.

I'm only on call for deployments, and then I make sure to stay at home with my work laptop plugged in and on. That way, should something happen, I can make a difference. Deployments are time sensitive so it REALLY matters if I can solve something quickly. If you are on call 24/7, then I would say something is wrong. There should be an employee at work for at least half that time in any case.

Emergencies arise that aren't serious enough for 911 but the sitter feels the parent should immediately know about. Just because your parents did something in 19diggidy-do, doesn't mean that in this day and age there aren't better ways of handling the situation. Cell phones are a part of our culture, like it or not, and we just have to be cognisant of our surroundings.

Cellphones are part of our culture, but so are other people. Its apparently too much to ask that people take responsibility, so we need to enforce such rules. Again, how would phoning daddy help? Whats he going to do? Hes miles away and knows not a fig about first aid.

I think with cellphones providing constant connectivity, a lot of us have turned into control and information freaks. We need to know, this instant, if Sally has uploaded those photos from her spring break. Or if Billy stubbed his toe. We cant live with waiting maybe a few hours to find out. I think its a weakness.

 

[SlitheryDee]

I got no problem with that. All that means is that everyone will have to prepare for any contingencies they can prepare for before entering the theater. For instance someone mentioned having a child with bad allergies or other potentially life-threatening ailment. In that case you just make sure the babysitter knows how to handle it should something happen, then you go enjoy your movie. If your preparations are sufficient, then your presence or knowledge wouldn't improve matters anyway. If it's something you can't prepare for or need to be present to handle, you shouldn't be going to a movie.

 

[Modelworks]

You can build a Rf free room from window screen. Make sure it is the wire mesh type and not the nylon or plastic. Overlap all joints by several inches and it forms a very nice cage when installed under drywall. It is being used in new apartment construction because of the wifi/cordless phone/cell phone, too many people in close quarters problem.

 

[vi edit]

I'll respond to this because I feel it pertains to me. I'm oncall 24x7. That doesn't mean that I can't go to a movie, however. The chance that I'll be paged is very slim, but it is my responsibility to respond when I get a page. I am required to take my laptop with me wherever I go and I usually keep it in the trunk of my car. Its a 3 minute walk outside, power up the laptop, and do whatever is necessary. You shouldn't have to borrow someone's laptop to do your work. I'm taking my kids to go see Thor Friday evening. Laptop will be in the car in case I need to work.

:thumbsup:

Yep, I'm on call 24/7 as well. I technically rotate every other week with a teammate, but ultimately I'm still the expert in two of our systems and he is on two others. So if we can't fix the other persons stuff, we still need to call them. I support health care devices/applications one of which is a cath lab that can have serious impact on patient safety. So I have to answer my phone immediately if I'm called. I field 4-6 calls a month so it's not like it's an excessive amount, and I try not to let it rule my life. If I get called I'll take it out to the lobby and try and assess things. If it's bad I'll text my wife and let her know we need to pack up and I'll drive the 3 miles it is from the theatre to my office and get it fixed. If I can fix it over the phone I'll come back in. I'm no more or less disruptive than someone getting up to pee or going back for popcorn or a drink.

It's the same with many other health care professionals, emergency responders (think volunteer ambulance and fire), support services (IT, and IT management), and administrative/executives that may have to take emergent calls. We all have lives that we try to live outside of work. We don't hover over a phone all minutes of our lives waiting for it to go off. But when things do happen we do what we have to do.

These people have been asked by their employers/patients/general public/ect to be available if needed. And the kicker is that they aren't the ones that are disrupting your precious movie viewing experience 99.9987% of the time they attend one.

If it's some inconsiderate teen yapping away on a phone then it's your responsibility to please ask them to turn it off. If that doesn't work then it's the theatres responsibility to warn and/or remove them from the showing.

I just have to shake my head at some peoples "solutions" to this. Faraday cages? Giving out a buzzer that now replaces a cell phone? Stopping a movie and/or announcing out loud that somebody has an emergency call? Really? Address the troublemakers and enforce that. Or just suck it up and accept that certain movies are going to carry with it certain crowd types. Or just don't go at all if you are that easily offended. Try to address/accept that first before you go blanket banning and punishing the rest of the general population that can operate a device without being a disturbance to your viewing experience.

 

[Zargon]

I got no problem with that. All that means is that everyone will have to prepare for any contingencies they can prepare for before entering the theater. For instance someone mentioned having a child with bad allergies or other potentially life-threatening ailment. In that case you just make sure the babysitter knows how to handle it should something happen, then you go enjoy your movie. If your preparations are sufficient, then your presence or knowledge wouldn't improve matters anyway. If it's something you can't prepare for or need to be present to handle, you shouldn't be going to a movie.

LOL ok. whatever. I will forward all complaints to you because you are soooo smart.

I am 1 of 2 IT staff for a county wide 911 dispatching center.

you are telling me that because I can't guarentee there wont be freak hardware falures I shouldnt go to a movie?

go F yourself. I put my cell on vibrate and do the best I can. but I have to get the page or see the call. 90% of the stuff can wait, but that doesnt mean its OK to not see it

If you are on call 24/7, then I would say something is wrong. There should be an employee at work for at least half that time in any case..

give me the money for the staff and I will hire a second shift guy.


also, pretty much 100% of what vi edit said.

some of you drones have no idea what the rest of us deal with

 

[Modelworks]

This is actually really easy to solve if the cell phone manufacturers and FCC would work together. All it would take is a modification of the phones firmware and a small hardware device. System would work like this:

Theater installs hardware device that has a low power transmitter .
Phone detects transmitter and upon receiving the special signal automatically switches phone to vibrate while in the vicinity.
That would solve the ringing part.

The way emergencies were handled before pagers and cells were one person would be required to be reachable by phone at all times and they would take turns among the staff. That could still work.

Personally I do not keep a cell phone with me at all times. I leave it home most of the time because I DON"T want to be reached all the time. I like the peace of not having to answer the phone every minute because someone wants to tell me something that could have waited.

 

[Zargon]

This is actually really easy to solve if the cell phone manufacturers and FCC would work together. All it would take is a modification of the phones firmware and a small hardware device. System would work like this:

Theater installs hardware device that has a low power transmitter .
Phone detects transmitter and upon receiving the special signal automatically switches phone to vibrate while in the vicinity.
That would solve the ringing part.

The way emergencies were handled before pagers and cells were one person would be required to be reachable by phone at all times and they would take turns among the staff. That could still work.

Personally I do not keep a cell phone with me at all times. I leave it home most of the time because I DON"T want to be reached all the time. I like the peace of not having to answer the phone every minute because someone wants to tell me something that could have waited.

because ya know, the phone answers itself

 

[SlitheryDee]

LOL ok. whatever. I will forward all complaints to you because you are soooo smart.

I am 1 of 2 IT staff for a county wide 911 dispatching center.

you are telling me that because I can't guarentee there wont be freak hardware falures I shouldnt go to a movie?

go F yourself. I put my cell on vibrate and do the best I can. but I have to get the page or see the call. 90% of the stuff can wait, but that doesnt mean its OK to not see it.

I wouldn't have a problem with phones at all if everyone did this AND left the theater before returning the call or text. If you feel your phone vibrate and just get up and leave that's not as distracting as a bright cell-phone screen, text message sound, or whispered cell phone conversation.

Also, it is not unheard of for people to have jobs that make it impossible to fully participate in some activities. For instance, I find it impossible to travel. My business is closed if I'm not actually there, and I can't afford to be closed. I can't call someone to fill in for me if I want to do something else. I can't get sick. I can't leave in the middle of the day even if business is slow. I don't get a vacation that isn't on a national holiday, and I can't extend those holidays by a few days to actually have enough time to go somewhere during them. These are just things that I have accepted to be true.

Likewise, you can't go to a movie without being a potential distraction due to the nature of your job. Actually, I think you could do what I described above and be just fine, but if you refuse to do that out sheer "I'm going to respond to this right here and now and F everyone else" bullheadedness, then F you for being an inconsiderate prick and using up some of the precious free time I miraculously carved out of that particular day.

 

[IcePickFreak]

The reality of it is none of this will be implemented anyway, and even if it was personally I wouldn't go to the theater anymore than I do now. I actually find it amusing that I'm not on call and I have no issues with not going to the theater and in fact prefer to watch movies at home, but apparently a lot of people that are on call or that have incompetent baby sitters love the theater.