Cell phone use banned on school buses

By BEN HOCKING
Reporter

It’s time for Glenrock students of all ages to tuck away those cell phones when riding the big yellow bus to and from school.

At the July 21 Glenrock School Board meeting, trustees unanimously voted to approve a ban on students using cell phones without consent from the bus driver starting with the beginning of the 2010-11 school year.

Superintendant Kirk Hughes said the rule change was made in order to effectively stop what he called “cyber-bullying.” He said that there had been instances where students were receiving threats via text message and inappropriate pictures were sent back and forth to students via cell phones.

The new policy states, “Any electronic device that can send or transmit video, audio or text is not permitted to be used on a route bus without prior approval of the bus driver.”

“(I hope) this will provide a standard on how to use cell phones in the Glenrock school system,” Transportation Director Mike Retano said. “Cell phones can be a great tool but they can be used incorrectly as well. The younger kids can see that they do have a purpose and can be used correctly, but when they are used incorrectly, it really ends up doing much more harm than good.”

Under the new policy, the bus driver will be given the decision making authority whether or not the student will be able to use their cell phone while remaining on the bus.

“It will pretty much be up to the driver,” Retano said. “The student will have the option to tell the driver that they need to contact their parents if they have a change in their bus stop or something. They can notify the driver of one of these special circumstances.”

Retano estimated that there were six separate incidents with cell phones being used inappropriately on buses last year. He said that none of them escalated to the point of physical altercations, but there were some issues with students not feeling safe.

“I don’t think we had any incidents where parents didn’t understand what you were trying to do (with cell phones last year),” Retano said. “There isn’t anything malicious on the school’s part (with the new policy). We are trying to make sure that all of our kids are safe in general.”

Hughes said that this rule doesn’t necessarily apply to activity buses such as sports teams and overnight trips made by other school approved groups.

“When students go on overnight trips and things, the coaches are able to set the rules on how cell phones will be used,” he said. “I do know that sometimes coaches will collect the cell phones when they are on an overnight trip or even on away trips.”

This is part of the July 29, 2010 online edition of The Glenrock Independent.

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