Cell Phone Ethnography

8/12/2019 Cell Phone Ethnography

1/15

http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/pressAndInformationOffice/newsAndEvents/archiv

es/2006/Mobile!ife"outh#eport.htm

http://www.scils.rut$ers.edu/ci/cmcs/publications/books/200%/the&20mobile

&20connectioin.htm

http://www.uark.edu/rdvcad/urel/publications/in'uir(/200%/)6*%.htm

+ell -hone Ethno$raph(: inal raft

Since the mid-1800s, societies have tried to communicate in faster, more efficient

ways. It began with notes sent by horseback and messenger, followed by the visual

telegraph. n the onset of the invention of electricity came the electrical telegraph ! the

first electrical means of communication. Immediately, the world became a smaller place

"no #r. $ovata, the world did not actually shrink%. ver the past &00 years,

communication technology has progressed leaps and bounds, including the ingenious

'mobile cavalry telephone( "http)**www.deadmedia.org*notes*&+*&+&.html%. Invention

begat invention leading up to the 180s when wireless communication became popular

through the use of pagers. $ike most technology, the beeper and early cell phones were

first embraced by the business class and government. s the technology advanced and

became cheaper to produce, the maority of society began to e/ploit it. ost technology

before the pager soon became obsolete and the cell phone revolution commenced.
http://www.deadmedia.org/notes/25/252.htmlhttp://www.deadmedia.org/notes/25/252.html


2/15

Segue to the mid 10s.

2ell phones prices dropped and rate plans dropped from dollars to cents per minute !

from the anomaly to the norm. 3oday cell phones litter society, such as, workplaces,

schools, restaurants and places of leisure. s college students, the aspect of this new

technology that affects us the most is in schools, most of all, the classroom. 3he

obective of this cell phone ethnography was to research the use of cell phones on the

college campus and in the classroom. 4e hypothesi5ed that the maority of students on

campus own and * or used cell phones while on the 6orty cres, and that this usage has

become somewhat of a necessary evil. ainly because it is a nuisance in class while

serving an arguable purpose) an instant means of communication. 4e collected data by

surveying students at random on the 4est all, in the 3e/as 7nion and via e-mail.

total of fifty-seven complete surveys were collected as a result of this sampling.

4hen we first selected the group members, we threw around lots of ideas, including

monitoring cell phone usage on the 4est all by students entering and e/iting buildings.

4e also discussed comparing beeper usage from the past decade to cell phone usage of

today. In the end we narrowed our field of research to student usage on campus and

responses from professors to said usage. 3he student surveys consisted of four yes or no

uestions and two open response uestions. 3he uestions were as follows)

1. #o you own a cell phone9 :es * ;o )) If yes, for how long9


3/15

In order to successfully conduct this survey on the 4est all "a.k.a.) stop trying to

hand me meaningless pieces of paper land%, we were forced to invest in tasty morsels

consisting of ilky 4ays@ and Snickers@ and use them as bribe material. In many

cases, our survey wasnAt interpreted correctly or filled out completely. 3his forced us to

invalid a few of the responses.

Because the survey was taken on a highly populated and locali5ed part of campus we

were able to sample a various and accurate portion of the student body. 6or e/ample, a

little over half of the students surveyed were females. 3his gender ratio is very similar to

the gender makeup of the student body at 73. 2asual observation also correlated with

the data. 4hile waiting for fifteen minutes for fellow group members to arrive, ten

females were seen talking on their cell phones while walking on campus. In comparison,

in the same time frame no males were seen talking on cell phones.

ut of the valid surveys that we collected, eighty percent of the surveyed students own

a cell phone. Cemarkably, all of the said surveyed students take said cell phones to said

campus.


4/15

s can be seen in the preceding graph, over three uarters of the students surveyed use

their cell phones in between classes and while on campus. 4e have seen the affects of

cell phones on campus and in class on a first hand basis. ;one of the group members

have ever been in a class where a cell phone did not disrupt a lecture. 6rom the data we

collected, we found that appro/imately forty-one percent of the surveyed students have

had their cell phone ring during a class. Cemarkably, more than half of the surveyed

students that have owned their cell phone for more than two years have allowed it to ring

in class. 3his data is alarming, but coincides with our original hypothesis that cell phones

have become a disturbance in the classroom. 3o bring in an outside opinion, group

members interviewed their professors from current and past semesters on the subect of

cell phones in the classroom. 3he general consensus of the professors was that cell

phones have become a definite disruption in the classroom. >owever, the level of


5/15

disruption is inversely proportional to the si5e of the class itself. eaning, that in larger,

less intimate classroom settings, cell phone disruption is almost e/pected by the

professors and students, and is usually an accompaniment to all of the other commotion.

4hereas, in smaller classes, with more student*professor interaction, a cell phone is more

noticed and usually causes some form of interference in the task at hand.

lthough the level of disturbance in larger classes is significantly smaller, some

professors that teach these larger classes react more harshly to cell phones going off. 6or

e/ample, one professor that all but one of the group members have had, who will remain

anonymous, goes to the e/treme of planting a 3 in the class on the first day to prove her

point about cell phones ringing in class. n the other end of the spectrum"scale%, most

professors simply make an announcement about cell phones at the beginning of the

semester or in their syllabus. n the average, professors have noticed that cell phones

have become more of a problem in ust the last three or four years. Before the cell phone


6/15

cra5e, no other form of mobile communication was as intrusive"disturbing% in the

classroom. Dven the popularity of pagers and two-way paging devices never boomed in

the way cell phones have. Some professors go so far as to pride themselves on their

ability to 'sniff out( vibrating cell phones as well as cell phones that ring in their classes.

6rom the data we collected, most of the students that talk on their cell phones while on

campus, average between fifty and seventy minutes per week. 3his hardly seems to

necessitate the need for constant communicating abilities since most rate plans are on the

average of 1000 to &000 minutes per month. 3his is somewhat of a parado/ since we are

not necessarily a busier society than before five years ago when cell phones were

uncommon. It seems that society is using this technology only because it is available, not

because it is necessary. Society has put forth the feeling that instant and direct

communication is necessary, and without it, there is somewhat of a invalid. Dven a short

in class discussion by #r. $ovata showed that most of us felt incomplete without our cell

phones on our persons at all times.

ne of the variables researched by the group was the length of ownership of the

personsA cell phone. 3he range of ownership was as low as three months and as high as

fifty-one months. ver eighty-five percent of the surveyed students have owned their

cell phone for more than one year. >owever, this doesnAt coincide with the age of the

students. 6or e/ample, one female test subect e/plained that she had owned her cell

phone for four years and yet she was only a freshman at 73. 3his further proves that the

growth of cell phone popularity is hitting younger people as well as college age people.

any high schools have even started regulating cell phone use at school even going so

far as banning bringing cell phones to school at all. 3his also paralleled the use of pagers


7/15

when all of the group members were in high school. 3he average length of time of

ownership is appro/imately twenty-si/ months. >owever, more than a uarter of the

students have owned a cell phone for over three years. lthough our data doesnAt show

it, we believe that that maority of university students purchased their cell phones after

arriving at the university, and not when they were living at home attending high school.

3he goal of this study was to e/amine the use of cell phones on campus. 4e

e/amined how the use of cell phones has increased over the past few years, how cell

phones fit into everyday life on campus, and how cell phones affect the classroom. ur

survey for students included uestions about general usage. It was short but very

effective "mainly because of our bribing incentive%. Dach member of the group also

conducted small interviews with faculty about cell phones. fter calculating all of the

data, our personal hypotheses and in class observations proved similar to the actual

amount of cell phone use on campus. 3he amount of students that allow their cell phones

to ring in class that we observed simply by going to class is proportional to the actual

amount of surveyed students that allow this to happen. ur original hypothesis was that

cell phone usage has become a nuisance on campus and that most of the student body

owned a cell phone. ur data clearly that this hypothesis is correct and that the amount

of cell phone use of campus is very high

Cell Phones Can Detract From School Safety & Crisis Preparedness

1. Cell phones have been used for calling in bomb threats to schools and, in many communities, cell

calls cannot be traced by public safety officials.

2. Student use of cell phones could potentially blow up a real bomb if one is actually on campus.

3. Cell phone use by students can hamper rumor control and, in doing so, disrupt and delay effective

public safety personnel response.

4. Cell phone use by students can impede public safety response by accelerating parental response

to the scene of an emergency during times when officials may be attempting to evacuate students

to another site.


8/15

5. Cell phone systems typically overload during a real maor crisis !as they did during the Columbine

tragedy, "#C attac$s, etc.%, and usage by a large number of students at once could add to the

overload and $noc$ out cell phone systems &uic$er than may normally occur. Since cell phones

may be a bac$up communications tool for school administrators and crisis teams, widespread

student use in a crisis could thus eliminate crisis team emergency communications tools in a very

short period of critical time.

'ational School Safety and Security Serviceshas received a number of in&uiries after the school shootings

of recent years as$ing if schools should allow and(or encourage students to carry cell phones and pagers in

school as a tool for their safety during a potential crisis. Similar in&uiries have been received after the

September 2))1 terrorist attac$s on *merica.

"e have opposed policies allowing or encouraging students to have cell phones and pagers in school. +n a

daytoday basis, they are disruptive to the educational environment. #his also has been the general position

of many school districts over the years. Changing policies under the guise of cell phones being a crisis tool

for student safety is, in our opinion, a $neeer$ reaction and is not -the answer- to school crisis

preparedness that some may believe it to be.

Some schools banned pagers and cell phones starting a decade ago because of their connection to drug

and gang activity, as well as due to the disruption to classes. #he focus on their disruption of the educational

process has come into conflict with cell phones becoming a convenience items over recent years. owever,

parents have increasingly lobbied boards to change policies primarily based on the argument that phones

will ma$e students and schools safer in light of national tragedies.

"e do agree that the use of such devices is more for convenience purposes today than it may have been 1)

or more years ago. /ut while some boards and(or administrators prefer to -cave in- and change policies

primarily to avoid parental pressures and schoolcommunity politics we still generally advise them not to

do so. 0rom an educational perspective, cell phones primary present another disruption to the educational

environment on a daytoday basis.

School disruptions can come in a number of forms. inging cell phones can disrupt classes and distract

students who should be paying attention to their lessons at hand. #et message has been used for cheating.

*nd new cell phones with cameras could be used to ta$e photos of eams, ta$e pictures of students

changing clothes in gym loc$er areas, and so on.

n terms of school safety, cell phones have been used by students in a number of cases nationwide for

calling in bomb threats to schools. n far too many cases, these threats have been difficult or impossible to

trace since they have been made by cell phones. #he use of cell phones by students during a bomb threat,

and specifically in the presence of an actual eplosive device, also presents a greater ris$ for potentially

detonating the device as public safety officials typically advise school officials not to use cell phones, two

way radios, or similar communications devices during such threats.

*dditionally, eperience in crisis management has shown us that regular school telephone systems become

overloaded with calls in times of a crisis. "hile we do recommend cell phones for school administrators and

crisis team members as a crisis management resource tool, it is highly probable that hundreds !if not

thousands% of students rushing to use their cell phones in a crisis would also overload the cell phone system

and render it useless. #herefore the use of cell phones by students could conceivably decrease, not

increase, school safety during a crisis.
http://www.schoolsecurity.org/http://www.schoolsecurity.org/terrorist_response.htmlhttp://www.schoolsecurity.org/terrorist_response.htmlhttp://www.schoolsecurity.org/http://www.schoolsecurity.org/terrorist_response.html


9/15

School officials should maintain an ade&uate number of cell phones on campus for administrators, crisis

team members, and other appropriate adults. School and safety officials should see$ to provide such

e&uipment as a part of their crisis planning. *dditionally, while not necessarily advocating that schools

provide cell phones to teachers, we do believe that school policies should allow teachers and support staff to

carry their cell phones if they choose to do so.

"hile a number of schools have loo$ed at this issue, and some have reversed their past positions of

prohibiting cells phone in schools, we find that the maority of schools have not umped on the bandwagon

and it is not the big trend that some may believe it to be based upon a number of anecdotal cases. n fact,

the 2))2 '*S+ national survey of schoolbased police officersshows that 6 of surveyed schoolbased

police officers from across the nation believe that student use of cell phones in school would detract from

school safety in a crisis and another 1)6 believe they would have neither a positive or negative influence.

16 of school resource officers indicated that their schools continue to not allow students to use cell phones

in school, supporting our observations that the maority of schools have not reversed their prohibition of

student use of cell phones in schools.

owever, if school boards want to bend to parental pressures and allow students to carry cell phones for

convenience purposes, and if school administrators support such practices due to the difficulties associated

with being the -cell phone police- in their schools, this is fine. /ut when doing so, they should all

ac$nowledge that convenience and public pressure, not school safety, are the real reasons typically driving

such decisions.

High school limits student cell phone use

7'C+7'S8, ll. !*9% : #hey finish their eams, step outside and pull out their cell phones to call for

-9ut them away; 9ut them away;- an administrator shouts as a halfdo


10/15

*t Stevenson, students are allowed to use them only after school finishes at 3?25 p.m. and on wee$ends. they must $eep them off and out of sight.

-"hat if eams finish earlier than that@- as$s 15yearold Aaren 7evy, who stands outside with a crowd of go home at 11?15 a.m. -t=s not really fair.-

+thers are simply confused by the changes.

-=m not in trouble, am @- sophomore 'eringa 8idimtaite as$s after ma$ing a &uic$ call to her father to as$

*dministrators say they have to draw the line somewhere to $eep phones from becoming a distraction. /ythey say they=re ac$nowledging that cell phones are an everyday part of life.

-t was $ind of silly,- Stevenson superintendent ichard Bu0our says of an old policy that forced school offstudents who were simply carrying a phone.

Colleen Conrad, a senior and president of the student council, was one of those students. She had to spe

-Saturday school- after she left her purse in the school cafeteria last September, only to have administratoin it.

-=ve never gotten in trouble before,- Conrad says, adding that she was upset, in part, because punishmenconsistent.

-Some people got in trouble and others didn=t,- she says.

She li$es the new policy. /ut at least one epert believes relaed rules are only li$ely to increase dilemmapunish students who use phones during school hours.

-ou=re legislating chaos. t=s a lot easier ust to say, =Bon=t bring them,-= says Aenneth #rump, president of'ational School Safety and Security Services.

et safety is a big reason many administrators : from /altimore to Ballas : are reconsidering their ban opagers after Sept. 11 and the Columbine school massacre. *dministrators say having a cell phone handy parents peace of mind.

/ut #rump says cell phones aren=t necessarily security enhancers.

e says that having hundreds of students ma$ing calls at once can actually increase confusion or am up an emergency. *nd some students may use phones to cause trouble, phoning in bomb threats, for eamp

#hen there=s simply the issue of distraction, as students snea$ away to chec$ their voice mail or send tet forth via cell phone.

egardless, legislators in Dichigan and ndiana are reconsidering laws that ban cell phones and pagers o: measures originally aimed at curbing drugdealing.

/ut other states are holding f irm. 7ast month, a 'ew >ersey appellate court upheld the constitutionality of elementary and secondary students from wearing pagers while on school property.

Students at Stevenson igh School say they=ve seen some students brea$ing the new rules : using their


11/15

bathrooms, for eample. /ut they say phones that ring in classrooms more often belong to teachers.

*s long as they=re not using phones and pagers during class, students say they should be trusted to use g

-t=s li$e the nternet : they wouldn=t ta$e away access to that,- says Stevenson senior Barren 'asatir. - e

from school, and it=s no big deal. "hy should calling them be a big deal@-chool 1oard ants 3o 1an +ell -hones After -rincipal +au$ht tran$lin$ tudent

#ecember &1, &00E3opics school,phone,student, camera, teachers, schools, images,

virginia,clothes,photos,pictures,light,tvand security

An incident caught on a cell phone camera might lead the Caddo SchoolBoard to ban cell phone use at schools during the academic day from 7 a.m.until school ends. The idea was born when a student with a cell phone cameratook photos of a physical fight between another student and the Huntington

High School Principal erry !a"is. According to The Shre"eport Times# the cellphone images caught the media$s attention and school board officials had to put

!a"is on paid administrati"e lea"e. %S&A T' () reports that !a"is was accusedof choking the student. *n e+plaining that she wasn$t really banning cell phones

from schools# School Board ,embers !ottie Bell said that the student who usedhis cell phone to photograph the incident highlighted the fact that students are

misusing their cell phones during school time. -Students are misusing thephone. They are te+ting test answers# they are taking pictures while changingclothes# and sending them to ou Tube#- Bell said. But the Caddo /ederation ofTeachers ob0ects to banning students from using cell phones during school

hours. They say that it would re1uire checking the students. Anyway# bothteachers and parents say they fa"or students ha"ing the security of cell phonesto communicate in light of the massacres at Columbine High School and 'irginiaTech. But school board members say that banning cell phone use would be in

line with e+isting school policy that bans use of electronic de"ices during schoolhours without permission from the principal# The Shre"eport Times reports. *fthe student with the cell phone camera had been following that rule# it isdoubtful that !a"is would be on lea"e now# because it can be assumed that he

wouldn$t ha"e gi"en a student permission to photograph him while he was

choking another student.

S37B$D7F;

Cell Phone Ban Angers Students

b( Il(a Arbit and avid chmut4er

Ma( 2006

n pril &G, ;ew :ork 2ity police officers set up mobile security scanners at the corn

>igh School for Social Hustice in Brooklyn. 3hey sei5ed 1& cell phones, 10 2# players,

two iFods, a bo/ cutter and a knife. Such searches and the ban on cell phones haveprompted protests by high school students across the city.

2ell phones have long been banned in the citys public schools, but principals at schoolswithout metal detectors, such as 2C; >igh School, often ignored the policy, and

students got away with carrying cell phones, as long as the phones did not make noise in

class.

;ow all students have to obey the rules because of a new #epartment of Dducation

security policy. 2ity police officers have started randomly showing up at schools that

dont have metal detectors and using mobile scanners to keep weapons out of the schools,according to a department press release. But the police are also confiscating cell phones,
http://www.wayodd.com/school/1/c/6/http://www.wayodd.com/phone/1/c/42/http://www.wayodd.com/student/1/c/50/http://www.wayodd.com/student/1/c/50/http://www.wayodd.com/camera/1/c/141/http://www.wayodd.com/teachers/1/c/257/http://www.wayodd.com/schools/1/c/120/http://www.wayodd.com/images/1/c/432/http://www.wayodd.com/virginia/1/c/224/http://www.wayodd.com/clothes/1/c/202/http://www.wayodd.com/clothes/1/c/202/http://www.wayodd.com/photos/1/c/196/http://www.wayodd.com/photos/1/c/196/http://www.wayodd.com/pictures/1/c/184/http://www.wayodd.com/pictures/1/c/184/http://www.wayodd.com/light/1/c/182/http://www.wayodd.com/light/1/c/182/http://www.wayodd.com/tv/1/c/81/http://www.wayodd.com/tv/1/c/81/http://www.wayodd.com/security/1/c/61/http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wayodd.com%2Fschool-board-wants-to-ban-cell-phones-after-principal-caught-strangling-student%2Fv%2F8659%2F&title=School+Board+Wants+To+Ban+Cell+Phones+After+Principal+Caught+Strangling+Student&adult=0&newcomment=An+incident+caught+on+a+cell+phone+camera+might+lead+the+Caddo+School+Board+to+ban+cell+phone+use+at+schools+during+the+academic+day+from+7+a.m.+until+school+ends.+The+idea+was+born+when+a+student+with+a+cell+phone+camera+took+photos+of+a+physical+fight+between+another+student+and+the+Huntington+High+School+Principal+Jerry+Davis.+According+to+The+Shreveport+Times%2C+the+cell+phone+images+caught+the+media%27s+attention+and+school+board+officials+had+to+put+Davis+on+paid+administrative+leave.+KSLA+TV+12+reports+that+Davis+was+accused+of+choking+the+student.+In+explaining+that+she+wasn%27t+really+banning+cell+phones+from+schools%2C+School+Board+Members+Dottie+Bell+said+that+the+student+who+used+his+cell+phone+to+photograph+the+incident+highlighted+the+fact+that+students+are+misusing+their+cell+phones+during+school+time.+%22Students+are+misusing+the+phone.+They+are+texting+test+answers%2C+they+are+taking+pictures+while+changing+clothes%2C+and+sending+them+to+You+Tube%2C%22+Bell+said.+But+the+Caddo+Federation+of+Teachers+objects+to+banning+students+from+using+cell+phones+during+school+hours.+They+say+that+it+would+require+checking+the+students.+Anyway%2C+both+teachers+and+parents+say+they+favor+students+having+the+security+of+cell+phones+to+communicate+in+light+of+the+massacres+at+Columbine+High+School+and+Virginia+Tech.+But+school+board+members+say+that+banning+cell+phone+use+would+be+in+line+with+existing+school+policy+that+bans+use+of+electronic+devices+during+school+hours+without+permission+from+the+principal%2C+The+Shreveport+Times+reports.+If+the+student+with+the+cell+phone+camera+had+been+following+that+rule%2C+it+is+doubtful+that+Davis+would+be+on+leave+now%2C+because+it+can+be+assumed+that+he+wouldn%27t+have+given+a+student+permission+to+photograph+him+while+he+was+choking+another+student.%0D%0A++++++++++++++++++++++++&tagnames=security%2C+tv%2C+light%2C+pictures%2C+photoshttp://www.wayodd.com/school/1/c/6/http://www.wayodd.com/phone/1/c/42/http://www.wayodd.com/student/1/c/50/http://www.wayodd.com/camera/1/c/141/http://www.wayodd.com/teachers/1/c/257/http://www.wayodd.com/schools/1/c/120/http://www.wayodd.com/images/1/c/432/http://www.wayodd.com/virginia/1/c/224/http://www.wayodd.com/clothes/1/c/202/http://www.wayodd.com/photos/1/c/196/http://www.wayodd.com/pictures/1/c/184/http://www.wayodd.com/light/1/c/182/http://www.wayodd.com/tv/1/c/81/http://www.wayodd.com/security/1/c/61/http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wayodd.com%2Fschool-board-wants-to-ban-cell-phones-after-principal-caught-strangling-student%2Fv%2F8659%2F&title=School+Board+Wants+To+Ban+Cell+Phones+After+Principal+Caught+Strangling+Student&adult=0&newcomment=An+incident+caught+on+a+cell+phone+camera+might+lead+the+Caddo+School+Board+to+ban+cell+phone+use+at+schools+during+the+academic+day+from+7+a.m.+until+school+ends.+The+idea+was+born+when+a+student+with+a+cell+phone+camera+took+photos+of+a+physical+fight+between+another+student+and+the+Huntington+High+School+Principal+Jerry+Davis.+According+to+The+Shreveport+Times%2C+the+cell+phone+images+caught+the+media%27s+attention+and+school+board+officials+had+to+put+Davis+on+paid+administrative+leave.+KSLA+TV+12+reports+that+Davis+was+accused+of+choking+the+student.+In+explaining+that+she+wasn%27t+really+banning+cell+phones+from+schools%2C+School+Board+Members+Dottie+Bell+said+that+the+student+who+used+his+cell+phone+to+photograph+the+incident+highlighted+the+fact+that+students+are+misusing+their+cell+phones+during+school+time.+%22Students+are+misusing+the+phone.+They+are+texting+test+answers%2C+they+are+taking+pictures+while+changing+clothes%2C+and+sending+them+to+You+Tube%2C%22+Bell+said.+But+the+Caddo+Federation+of+Teachers+objects+to+banning+students+from+using+cell+phones+during+school+hours.+They+say+that+it+would+require+checking+the+students.+Anyway%2C+both+teachers+and+parents+say+they+favor+students+having+the+security+of+cell+phones+to+communicate+in+light+of+the+massacres+at+Columbine+High+School+and+Virginia+Tech.+But+school+board+members+say+that+banning+cell+phone+use+would+be+in+line+with+existing+school+policy+that+bans+use+of+electronic+devices+during+school+hours+without+permission+from+the+principal%2C+The+Shreveport+Times+reports.+If+the+student+with+the+cell+phone+camera+had+been+following+that+rule%2C+it+is+doubtful+that+Davis+would+be+on+leave+now%2C+because+it+can+be+assumed+that+he+wouldn%27t+have+given+a+student+permission+to+photograph+him+while+he+was+choking+another+student.%0D%0A++++++++++++++++++++++++&tagnames=security%2C+tv%2C+light%2C+pictures%2C+photos


12/15

iFods and other banned electronic devices. If cell phones are sei5ed during a scan at

school, school officials decide when to return the phones.

By Hon Jambrell

SS2I3D# FCDSS

1&)&= p.m. #ecember &, &00E7J7S3, rk. ! Cumors spread by cell phone te/t-messaging flew through a school

after a students suicide, rumors that other kids planned to kill themselves, that students

planned to bring weapons to school, that there was going to be 'a shoot em up.(Fanicked parents rushed to take their children home.

But police and officials at ugusta >igh School say the panic turned out to be only a way

for students to avoid taking semester-ending e/ams.

Ad"ertisement

'Somebody took advantage of a tragedy that happened in ugusta, a tragedy of a young

man taking his life,( Superintendent Cichard Blevins said. 'Somebody e/ploited that andI guess that made me madder than anything else. Somebody was so insensitive to use that

for their own gain.(

n e/isting ban on cell phones at the school will be enforced when the winter break is

over.

Bomb threats and disruptions have happened before at the &00-student school in ugusta,in northeastern rkansas. But police say the proliferation of cellular phones gave

electronic-age wings to small-town gossip.

'3heres rumor mills in this town like you ust cannot believe, because everyone knowseverybody. ;inety percent of people is kinfolks with somebody else,( police 2apt. Him

oore said. ':ou get a ripple that spreads like a wave.(

2rime is slow in the town of &,=0 people. Folice on average respond to one reportable

call a day. n evidence-tagged 18-pack of beer still sits on a department desk, labeled asconfiscated back in September.

3he rumors started #ec. 1E when officers responding to a call found a 1G-year-old

student hanged at his home.

$ate the ne/t day, the sheriffs office received a call from a school official saying someparents were concerned about rumors spreading of threats of a shooting at the school.
http://oas.signonsandiego.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/www.uniontrib.com/news/nation/20071229-1223-cellphonepanic.html/1494867895/x32/OasDefault/sprint029_nextel_300_biz_q1_2008/sprint029_nextel_728_biz_q1_2008.html/63613533613965323437383230316130?1494867895


13/15

n #ec. 1, a 4ednesday, police and a sheriffs deputy were at the school as students

entered, and school district officials used a handheld metal detector to scan everyone

entering the building. 3hey also looked through bags for weapons.

'3he only thing we found were cell phones,( Blevins said.

fter the searches, te/t-messaged rumors began circulating in earnest.

'3hey ust said there was going to be a shoot em up,( oore said. '3hey was supposed

to have been a pact and all this kind of stuff ! that there were going to be eight or 10 hang

themselves over the holidays.(

Fanicked parents headed to the campus, and by 10 a.m. only &+ students remained at the

==+-pupil elementary school.

Folice in nearby Searcy called asking if ugusta police needed help, saying they had a

report of a shooting at the school. mbulances were diverted to the area.

Blevins said the panic was initially spread by students who claimed said they hadreceived threatening te/t messages.

'f course, this never happened. Its ust more damn rumors,( oore said. 'Dvery kid

down there has a cell phone and they ust ibber-abber, ibber-abber.(

n Han. E, the first school day of the new year, Blevins said, school staff will institute a5ero-tolerance policy on cellular phones. >e also plans an investigation into who caused

the panic and promises to push for e/pulsions.

'Its like hollering fire in a crowded theater,( Blevins said. '4e cant have people doing

that.(

>owever, oore doesnt believe any criminal charges are likely.

'Its all ust a rumor,( he said.

Jraduate students find no match in evening cell phone use spike and crash data

By Kathleen aclay, edia Celations L 1= ugust &00E

BDCKD$D: ! Its conventional wisdom that talking on cell phones while driving is risky

business, but two 7niversity of 2alifornia, Berkeley, graduate student economists reportthat a spike in cell phone use in recent years and on weekday evenings is not matched by

an increase in fatal or non-fatal car crashes from &00&-&00+.

3heir findings, published on the 4eb site of the merican Dnterprise Institute-Brookings

Hoint 2enter for Cegulatory Studies, run counter to the conclusions of more than 1&+


14/15

other studies, E0 percent of mericans in a &00= Jallup Foll who said drivers on cell

phones cause accidents, and the reasoning behind complete or partial bans on using cell

phones in at least 1? states. 3he issue is on the agenda in several foreign countries aswell.

M4e were uite shocked,M admitted Saurabh Bhargava, who with co-author NikramFathania set out to satisfy a curiosity about drivers who use their cell phones despite the

commonly perceived perils.

3he students point to data revealing that the average amount of time a cell phone

subscriber spends on calls has surged from 1?0 to E?0 minutes a month since 1=. In

addition, about ?0 percent of drivers acknowledge using their cell phones at some pointwhile driving, and cell phone ownership is skyrocketing, up from about & percent in 10

to more than E+ percent in &00G.

3he researchers also found - not surprisingly - that calls made ust after p.m. on

weekdays, the point when off-peak, Mfree minutesM kick in on many cell phone plans,have increased by &0 to =0 percent. In a &00G Few Cesearch Survey, ?? percent of cell

phone-using respondents said they wait until after p.m. on weekdays to make non-

urgent calls.

Fathania said the ump in call volume ust after p.m. on weekdays should havetranslated into a ump in the number of crashes, too.

:et, when the 72 Berkeley researchers e/amined the number of fatal vehicular accidents

from 18E to &00+ in all states, as well the number of all crashes in seven states in

roughly the same period, they found the crash rate had remained flat or had fallen. Flus,

the crash rate declined steadily over the course of a typical weekday evening, even after p.m., reflecting a pattern almost unchanged since the early 10s when few people owned

cell phones, they say in their report, M#riving 7nder the "2ellular% Influence) 3he $inkBetween 2ell Fhone 7se and Nehicle 2rashes.M

In what is probably the best-known and widely cited study on accidents and cell phones,

researchers at the 7niversity of 3oronto and Stanford 7niversity in 1E concluded that

using a cell phone while driving increased the odds of an accident four-fold, comparableto driving under the influence of illegal levels of alcohol.

So what might e/plain the lack of a link between vehicular mishaps and drivers on their

cell phones9

Maybe drivers arent as irrational as we think they are,M said Bhargava. MIn real life,

people may be aware of the risks of cell phones, and they may adust their drivingbehavior.M

3he researchers said drivers on cell phones may move into slower traffic lanes, increase

the distance between their cars and others, or pull over to the side of the road to talk.


15/15

3hey may also MsubstituteM across sources of risk by talking on the phone instead of, for

e/ample, fiddling with the radio or conversing with a fellow passenger. aybe cell phone

use helps to keep some drivers, such as long-distance truckers, awake and alert, Bhargavaand Fathania said. 3hey also theori5ed that cell phone use is more problematic when

driving in poor weather conditions or for drivers in certain demographic groups, such as

teenagers.

Bhargava and Fathania compared trends in cell phone ownership and crashes over time,sought out possible differences in urban versus rural crash rates related to varying rates of

cell phone ownership in those regions, and estimated the impacts of laws restricting cell

phone use. M;one of the additional analyses produces evidence for a positive linkbetween cellular use and vehicular crashes,M they concluded.

3he economists dont dispute that using cell phones while driving can be dangerous.

Bhargava conducted his own personal e/periment, talking on his cell phone while driving

in innesota this summer. cknowledging that he doesnt often drive, much less drive

and talk on the cell phone at the same time, Bhargava said he almost crashed twice onthat trip.

Mur research should not be viewed as an endorsement to use cell phones in a negligent

way,M he said. MIt certainly may be risky for a marginal user.M

Fathania added another cautionary note) MSince we know that certain demographic groups

such as teenagers freuently call and te/t while driving, and that they are also risky,

ine/perienced drivers, further research is needed in this area. $aws banning cell phoneuse in cars for such groups may well have some merit.M

72 Berkeley economist #avid 2ard said the researchers study supersedes e/isting onesand uses Mmore reliable methods that cleverly overcome the problem of making

inferences about the causal effects of cell phone use by focusing on the surge in use atthe time when rates fall.M

3he report is online at) http)**www.aei-brookings
http://www.aei-brookings.org/publications/abstract.php?pid=1210http://www.aei-brookings.org/publications/abstract.php?pid=1210

Cell Phone Ethnography

Documents

Transcript of Cell Phone Ethnography