Talk about taking the law into your own hands. Vancouver-Island Port Hardy Secondary School has a total of 343 students and their principal Steve Gray was so sick of them using their cell in school that he picked up an jamming device from China and blocked their calls.
The cell phone jammer was $115 (U.S.) plus $50 for shipping… and the school board paid for it (good tax money well spent). Using a tool like this is illegal in Canada under Sections 4 and 9 of Canada’s Radiocommunication Act… this caused an outrage at the school and 90 students skipped classes and started a protest.
Grade 12 student and protest organizer Destiny Herman said “On the first day, we thought the Telus tower was down. On the second day, we suspected the jammer. On the third day, we had the protest”. In addition, Grade 11 student “Some teachers said it was the humidity, but my cellphone works in the rain. We did our research on the Internet. Breaking the law is not a good way to send a message.”
This protest caused principal Gray to remove the jammer. He said “I was looking for a solution to a problem”. The issue started a few years ago when students started bringing in MP3 players and then cell phones started to come into play. His main concern was during exam time and wanted to ensure that nobody was cheating.
“You can imagine, people can text surreptitiously. Teachers are forced to deal with this and it detracts from learning. It’s time not spent on-task,”
Via: Globe & Mail
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