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*for their actions, they will have too.

I am a parent who usually backs the school decisions and supports whatever enforcement the bus drivers need to keep order. Unfortunately, I can't agree with them in this case. We are entering into a new age... an age of communication, and the only phone usage I can see as a problem is that of the drivers themselves. My son's life has been threatened in the past by other students and he was accosted by a teacher. Both incidents were possible to mitigate because of his ability to call for help. He was also witness to a brutal attack on another student, and because he had a phone, was able to call 911 causing the attack to cease, the attackers to be arrested and possibly saving the other students life? The students on the bus are acting up as students often do and always have. The fact that it's with a cell phone and not some other item is inconsiquential. If someone does something wrong or illegal, punish them. Have formal charges brought against them. Have the driver call dispatch to call the police to deal with these issues. That is what they are for. To call it a distraction is foolish. I can understand restricting it's use in school as that is a place of learning. The bus on the other hand is a place of riding... not learning and is exactly where the students should be distracted. As long as the student is not disrupting the driver, it is not an issue. Put up signs saying lost or stolen items are not the responsibility of the bus company. Punish those who are actually doing wrong for doing wrong. The child who is quietly sitting, texting their friend or playing a game is not a criminal and should not be treated as so. Parents should get involved. They should talk to the drivers, the school board and the students. It is not and never should be the job of the school or the bus company to raise the children. If we treat our children... especially the High School students like children, they will never grow up. If we hold them accountable for th

There seems to be no rule against cell phone use on busses in Bedford North Lawrence (Indiana) school system. Who makes the decision as to using or not using phones on the bus?

We prohibited cell phone use a couple years ago. It's a tough policy to enforce, but I tell my bus drivers not to seek out cell phone users but wait until the cell phone use is evident. Parents are SO annoyed by this policy. In an era when it's completely possible to get ahold of someone 24/7 they cannot understand why the bus is an inappropriate place to use a cell phone. We have a number of reasons: picture-taking, harassment, disciplinary, ordinary horse-play, etc. We even once had a bus rider talking to another student in a car. The kids thought it was funny to play "chicken" with the bus. I'm thankful for our policy and that the Monticello School District fully supports it.

Our school district (Ware, MA Public Schools) barred cell phones, i-pods that take vidoeo's and cameras many years ago. Although largely unenforceble, the rule is sometimes held, but parents seem to be the key, some feel that such a rule infringes on their rights to comunicate with their children. The school usually gives way to parents, and as every driver knows, the buck stops with them.