Kids And Beepers: "Majority" Disapproves?

[Josh]

Should children be allowed to carry beepers? Most American adults think not, according to a new Zogby America survey. In the June survey of 1,264 adults nationwide, 50.5% said kids should not be allowed to carry a pager vs. 42.3% who saw no problem. Another 7.3% were not sure.

Respondents from the West were the most open-minded about children and beepers, with 53.4% saying it was OK. In comparison, in the East (41.9%), South (41.1%), and central Great Lakes (36.2%) thought it was all right for kids to carry pagers. Not surprisingly, the survey revealed a significant difference in opinion according to age: 60.2% of respondents between 18-24 said it was OK for kids to carry beepers. On the other side of the issue, 51% of the 35-54 year-olds, 58% of 55-69 year-olds, and 61% of those over 70 all thought kids should not be allowed to carry beepers.

What we asked:

Do you think that kids should be allowed to carry beepers?

In my opinion that's crap. Kids should be allowed to if their parents don't mind! What do you think?

 

[Vikaden]

funk that, ive had a beeper for 3 years, they can kiss my lily white a$$, if they want to take it away from me

 

[compuwiz1]

It's just another communication tool. Who cares. My kids have both had them and it was a handy way of getting them to call home if we needed to speak to them.

 

[JW310]

That's why all of the pagers I've seen have a silent, vibrating alarm option. I've had my pager for about a year and a half now (I'm 17), and my parents have no problem with me having it, as long as I keep up with paying the bill (which I do). I've always carried it (yes, even in school), and have found that it's great for letting my family keep in touch with me when I'm out of the house, or for those times when I'm online and someone's trying to call here. The $10/month I pay for it sure beats the $30/month for a 2nd phone line, IMO.

JW

 

[Javelin]

Pagers? Nah, get a cell phone.

 

[Josh]

Yea,
I was thinking of getting that "Family Plan"... some of you may have heard of it I assume

 

[Spook]

All distractions from what needs to be accomplished... School... You dont need one of things in school... Here you are in class, focused on that, now you get your page from your girlfriend... Now you've lost your concentration, and are wondering what she wants...

Its not like your going to get up and call here from class...

Nope... No pagers for Teenies... I must agree...

 

[Double Trouble]

I don't think there should be some sort of law that forbids from having pagers or anything, that's rediculous..... However, I don't see why kids *need* such a thing anyway, so if I had kids I wouldn't let them have pagers. What other parents do should be up to them.

 

[chipbgt]

in 3 or 4 years every kid is going to have a cellphone slash beeper slash PDA slash tv slash internet connection thingiemabob all together anyway, so whats one little beeper gonna bother anyone....

 

[Mariah21]

When I was still in school, there was a kid who carried his cell phone with him in class - it went off, so he walked oustide in the middle of pre-al, and talked to someone for about 15 mins. hehe.. The teacher wasnt happy. I also had friends who carried beepers. One guy's was in his watch. I think if you have one, fine, keep it on vibrate. If you have a cell phone, get voice mail, and keep it off during school and/or work. I recently worked with a girl whose cell phone rang 4 or 5 times during the day. She would answer it, and then get up and walk out the door. I was just surprised she didnt get fired... Especially since we were temps and they had already fired someone for talking too much in training. everyone hated the job...hehe

I wanted a pager/cell phone in school, but never got one. After I did, I kept my phoen for a year, then cut it off. If I feel the need for another phone, I will go through the company I am working for and get 50% off service...grin

 

[Psychoholic]

Why in hell should a kid get a phone call or a page while he's in school? Shouldn't his friends be in school? If he wants to stay connected with his friends and family that's okay, but there isn't any kid who is important enough to disturb his education, or the education of others, by carrying a pager at school.

If there's any school age kid here who would explain to me why that's not true I'd love to hear it.

 

[Daedalus]

There is nothing wrong with it. It's a good thing. If a parent needs to tell little Janie that Aunt Salley will be picking them a different time and place, they can real easy.

 

[Psychoholic]

Daedalus, haven't seen you in a while. I hope that's why I don't recognize what I hope is sarcasm.

If a parent needs to get a hold of their kid while at school they can leave a message with the office. The kid doesn't need pager to go off and disrupt the teacher's lesson.

 

[Daedalus]

Psycho, I would bend and say it should be considered a privilege. If abused, the pager should be removed. A silent message that can be read benignly by the student would not interrupt the class.

 

[Josh]

My school bans cell phones and pagers, which I believe is wrong. I think kids should be allowed to carry cell phones as a backup in case of an emergency (such as if someone were to get hurt on the way home).

 

[Psychoholic]

A silent message would be better than a class disruption. I still reside firmly in the fact, however, that the majority of the time pagers in school are used as status symbols not as communication devices. Therefore it would hurt to ban pagers and make all messages to students come through the office.

Would parents really need to reach their kids so often at school that they would really need to page them on a regular basis???

 

[CyberSax]

Obviously none of you have gone to a NY elementary or junior high schools. Half the time the teachers were confiscating, or otherwise resolving disputes related to beepers. And it's not like the kids needed the beepers, it was just something to show off at school.

Also, it's really annoying when you're trying to speak to a crowd and people's beepers go off. I didn't realize how annoying that was until I was giving a presentation one day. It's even more annoying when they think it's funny and start laughing :|

I have a beeper. I never brought it to school, and I leave it on "vibrate" when I'm at work. Never had any problems with it. In all honesty though, I don't know a single kid my age who exercises the same degree of self restraint.

 

[bUnMaNGo]

one of my friends said that when she went to Hong Kong after school got out (in May), EVERYONE had a cell phone- even little kids around 9 or 10 years old have them hanging around their necks... as for me, I've had a pager since I was 15, and kept it until my 1st year of college... I got a cell phone during the later portion of my senior year of high school... then got rid of my pager a little after... I agree, the pager came in handy when my parents needed me to call home, which came in really useful after I got my license at 16... it's just a convenience thing I guess... btw I haven't used a payphone in over 2 years since I got my cell

 

[Psychoholic]

...and how many of those times they wanted you to call were while you were in school?

I don't care how many little kids in Hong Kong have pagers and cell phones, they shouldn't be used in school here. What you carry outside of school I could care less.

 

[bUnMaNGo]

psychodelic:

I don't think the issue here is whether kids should be allowed to carry pagers IN school- it's whether or not they should be allowed to carry them AT ALL. However, if that were the case, I don't see why they shouldn't be allowed to take them to school AS LONG AS THEY ARE SILENT. joshpokeball has a good point- they come in handy for emergency use- didn't some girl use one to call 911 while she was hiding in a closet at Columbine? As for me, I kept my pager/cell phone in my car in the parking lot during school... but I guess kids wouldn't have that option, being that they don't drive =\

 

[CyberSax]

I don't think the issue here is whether kids should be allowed to carry pagers IN school- it's whether or not they should be allowed to carry them AT ALL. However, if that were the case, I don't see why they shouldn't be allowed to take them to school AS LONG AS THEY ARE SILENT. joshpokeball has a good point- they come in handy for emergency use- didn't some girl use one to call 911 while she was hiding in a closet at Columbine? As for me, I kept my pager/cell phone in my car in the parking lot during school... but I guess kids wouldn't have that option, being that they don't drive =\

Most high schools ban hats, because kids can't even handle them properly without causing trouble. That fact alone makes it very difficult to picture a scenario in which American high school kids can maturely handle beepers and phones at school.

 

[Psychoholic]

<< However, if that were the case, I don't see why they shouldn't be allowed to take them to school AS LONG AS THEY ARE SILENT. >>



I see why they shouldn't be allowed, you are in school to learn, you are not there to receive phone calls and pages. The chance of a cell phone being used in an emergency such as Columbine as compared to the number of distractions to a teacher is miniscule. There are adults who have access to phones for emergencies such as that.

bUnMaNGo, wake up and quit trying to justify your status symbol so you can show it off to your buddies.

 

[snut]

my parents just got me a cell phone for emergencys...im 16...I never use it too call friend...and i do thing pagers for ppl and cell phones our age for just mostly for the 'coolness' factor and most kids out age just like to show it off

 

[Bleeding Jawa]

Yes, they CAN be useful; however there is a time &amp; a place for them. School is NOT the place!!! I am a teacher &amp; I see WHO is wearing a beeper and I can usually tell you WHY they are wearing it. Either they are wearing it a an accessory, to show off, OR they are into bad stuff. I have taught classes with MULTPLE drug dealers in the same class. These &quot;students&quot; only come to school to sell. PERIOD. If there weren't opportunities to sell, they would simply drop out--that's a GOOD thing by the way...otherwise they are polluting the school &amp; preventing others from learning in a safe environment. Not only are many of these students wearing beepers, but once I had to bring in a principal &amp; a police officer because I found two students communicating w/ their suppliers just off-campus by using those motorola two-way radios. It is easy to say that the beepers are not to blame, but they DO contribute to the environment of the school. The kids DO all know who is wearing a beeper &amp; why. Wearing them just to be cool is not reason enough!!! Kids have a job from 8AM to 3PM, and that is TO LEARN....nothing else!!! There is absolutely NO REASON to introduce anything into the school environment that may cause any kind of disturbance or distraction.

No...banning beepers will not solve all the problems, but adults need to take a stand &amp; let their know what is important &amp; what is not. Rather than fighting for their right to keep beepers, kids need to fight for their right to learn in a safe, educational, distraction-free environment. If your parents want you to carry a beeper afterschool, then fine...but they are NEVER necessary during school.

 

[atom]

I don't have a problem with kids carrying beepers, but there is nothing more annoying than a beeper going off when you are trying to learn something. And I carried a beeper throughout highschool (I never took it off vibrate) and have cell phone now (which is also always on vibrate).

What's even worse is when these people put musical tones on their cell phone. People my age think its cool to have their phone beep out &quot;Thong Song&quot;, but I find it really annoying. Sounds worse than a case speaker.