Some parents strongly disagree. I carry neither a pager nor a cell phone. But a recent e-mail from a parent with a peeve led me directly into a raging debate about their place in school.
Cellular phones offer parents emergency access to their children.
Handheld digital organizers, commonplace tools for business, function as organizers, communication tools and minicomputers. I present the various sides of the debate. Denise Watkins wrote me to express her concern over school policies. But Palms and cell phones are banned in her nephew's school, where the only devices students are allowed are calculators. It's as if they are saying that of course the kids will cheat if given the opportunity.