Speaker 1: It's Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZY Coustin's new radio.
Speaker 2: Thank you very much, Dan Walkins. We are going to
Speaker 2: talk about cell phones in schools here in Massachusetts. It
Speaker 2: has been a subject that we've talked about before. I
Speaker 2: think most of you have a thought or an opinion
Speaker 2: on it. But at this point, there have been some
Speaker 2: communities that have taken some pretty serious actions, I guess,
Speaker 2: including brockdon Fall, River, Mathune and Ipswich have implemented their
Speaker 2: own cell phone bands. However, the come all of the
Speaker 2: Massachusetts has not acted up until this point. However, there
Speaker 2: is a movement afoot in joining us is one of
Speaker 2: the members of the Massachusetts State State Senator Julian Seyr,
Speaker 2: who represents Cape Cod and the Islands. Senator Seyr, Welcome
Speaker 2: to Nightside, How are you night Good?
Speaker 3: Good to be with you again.
Speaker 2: Then this is one of those issues that you would
Speaker 2: think the legislature could come to agreement on fairly easily.
Speaker 2: Really not a Democratic or Republican issue. Why has it
Speaker 2: taken so long? I know that there have been some
Speaker 2: bills filed for this session, and you are I think
Speaker 2: the Senate sponsor of at least one of these bills.
Speaker 2: Why why have we not acted sooner than this? I
Speaker 2: read some statistics over the weekend that suggest that that
Speaker 2: our high school students are not doing as well in
Speaker 2: the last couple of years as they did before the pandemic.
Speaker 2: And we can attribute obviously a lot of that to
Speaker 2: the pandemic. But has cell phone usage and the ability
Speaker 2: of kids to have cell phones on them, in their hens,
Speaker 2: in their pocket at school. Do you think he impacted
Speaker 2: this as well?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 3: I mean, you know, look, I'm someone who you know,
Speaker 3: grew up with you know, came of age of adulthood
Speaker 3: with cell phones, with social media. But I'm really glad
Speaker 3: right that I went through middle school and when went
Speaker 3: through high school before the advent of social media and
Speaker 3: before the advent of smartphone. You know, especially in college
Speaker 3: when when when Facebook came out? And you know, the
Speaker 3: junior when when when when the iPhone was invented and
Speaker 3: first came out? And really, you know, I really believe
Speaker 3: that my education and my social development were all the
Speaker 3: better for not having a smartphone on me at all
Speaker 3: times when I was in middle and in high school.
Speaker 3: The distraction factor, the bullying factor, the anxiety factor, and
Speaker 3: and so so like you said, I think we're trying
Speaker 3: to get some you know, quick traction on this. This
Speaker 3: is actually the first time, you know, I filed the
Speaker 3: deslation on this in partnership with Attorney General Campbell and
Speaker 3: Promisent of Pice in the House. And so, George, why
Speaker 3: I think move quickly here?
Speaker 4: Uh?
Speaker 3: You know, really, I think schools are grappling with this.
Speaker 3: You know, about seventy percent of teachers report cell phones
Speaker 3: being a problem in their classrooms, especially in middle and
Speaker 3: high school.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 3: And the more we just learn about the effects of
Speaker 3: this technology, Uh, there's pretty significant mental health concerns. So
Speaker 3: I think we're hoping to take take action. And that's why,
Speaker 3: you know, I filed the bill for the first time. Uh,
Speaker 3: you know, this session which just got underway.
Speaker 2: So let me ask you if, for example, let's take
Speaker 2: a typical piece of legislation out there. Let's say that
Speaker 2: there's some some legislation dealing with taxes. Well, you know
Speaker 2: that there's going to be some some senators and representatives
Speaker 2: who are going to be opposed, some are going to
Speaker 2: be supportive of it. You're going to have corporations come in,
Speaker 2: You're going to have you know, various lobbying groups come
Speaker 2: in and what on just about any piece of legislation
Speaker 2: that is up there. Very really do we get a
Speaker 2: piece of legislation that you might think of as a
Speaker 2: no brainer. I thought for a long time the whole
Speaker 2: question of revenge pornography was a no brainer, and it
Speaker 2: took more than a couple of sessions to get something
Speaker 2: done on that. Who would be opposed at this point
Speaker 2: other than some high school kids and middle school kids
Speaker 2: would say, I don't want to give up my cell phone.
Speaker 2: Why would this not almost get on a fast track
Speaker 2: in both houses and onto.
Speaker 3: Well, what we're hoping to get again on a fast rek.
Speaker 3: It's a good question. I think we do expect opposition,
Speaker 3: certainly from social media companies. Right this bill. This bill
Speaker 3: does two things. It has a basically a bell to
Speaker 3: bell policy, right that really says, look, when you're in school,
Speaker 3: no cell phone use, giving students the opportunity to engage
Speaker 3: with our education unfettered by digital distraction. And then the
Speaker 3: second piece of the bill is putting important standards for
Speaker 3: social media companies so that we're holding these corporations accountable
Speaker 3: for the safety and the mental health of the young
Speaker 3: people who are using those products. I expect we'll see
Speaker 3: opposition from those social media companies. We may see opposition
Speaker 3: as well from from from cell phone companies and others.
Speaker 3: You know, but I really think in this instance, right, let.
Speaker 2: Me ask you this Enator, you know more about this
Speaker 2: than I do. Why not bifurcate those those aspects. I
Speaker 2: agree with you that that there might be some pushback
Speaker 2: whenever liability issues are presented, and the folks at Meta
Speaker 2: and Instagram would say, hey, it's not our responsibility when
Speaker 2: some kid uses the cell phone for the wrong purposes,
Speaker 2: But why not just take take the chunk of it
Speaker 2: that I think everyone will agree upon, and that is
Speaker 2: that if you're going to school, you have a cell
Speaker 2: phone pouch that you put your cell phone in and
Speaker 2: your locker and you'll lock it up and you don't
Speaker 2: see it, oh until it's time to go home. And
Speaker 2: I know some of the argument is, well, what happens
Speaker 2: if there's some sort of a collect catastrophe at the
Speaker 2: school in this day and age, you know, a school shooter. Well,
Speaker 2: I would think that probably at that point most parents
Speaker 2: would hope that their child would be kept safe. And
Speaker 2: that you know that that to me, it isn't a
Speaker 2: serious objection, to be honest with you, because if my
Speaker 2: child is in a school where there's a shooter around,
Speaker 2: the last thing I want them to do is be
Speaker 2: dialing the telephone and calling me and saying I'm okay,
Speaker 2: because that could give away their location. If the shooter
Speaker 2: just happened to be walking by, why not just bikeificate
Speaker 2: that and keep it simple and just say, hey, you
Speaker 2: go to school, go to public school in Massachusetts, you
Speaker 2: turn either don't bring the phone to school, or when
Speaker 2: you come in through the school you got to put
Speaker 2: it in a pouch and and secure it for the
Speaker 2: rest of the school day. Or am I being Pollyannish
Speaker 2: when I.
Speaker 3: Asked that question, Well, I mean I think we have,
Speaker 3: you know, twin challenges going on, right. It's it's not
Speaker 3: just the device, right, and the technology, but what the
Speaker 3: content and and and the interactions that are on that device.
Speaker 3: And the more we know about how social media adversely
Speaker 3: affects mental health. I mean everyone's mental health, right, but
Speaker 3: but particularly for young people. I really believe these these
Speaker 3: social media platforms, which who look are making a heck
Speaker 3: of a lot of money off of all of us,
Speaker 3: especially young people, that they have to, you know, have
Speaker 3: common sense standards like age IC verification systems to protect minors,
Speaker 3: default privacy settings so that you know we're minimizing harmful
Speaker 3: engagement for young people, mechanisms to flag and wanted content. Right,
Speaker 3: that's really a common sense and it's also a no brainer.
Speaker 3: So you know, look, I'm really proud to have partnered
Speaker 3: with the Attorney General and represented Pish and others, you know,
Speaker 3: to put forward this common sensilitization. We're going to work
Speaker 3: to refine it and and you know, move it as
Speaker 3: quickly as we can. But even just the attention we've
Speaker 3: gotten on this bill, I think speaks to the public's
Speaker 3: desire and the real need for us to take action here.
Speaker 3: Eight other states have passed Bell de Bell policies that include,
Speaker 3: you know, these sort of restrictions and these stafeguards, and
Speaker 3: I think it's really time that Massachusetts joined.
Speaker 2: Well, I agree with you, and I wish you all
Speaker 2: the best on this. My only concern is having covered
Speaker 2: the legislature as a TV reporter a long time ago
Speaker 2: and followed the legislature as a talk show host and
Speaker 2: understand how it works up there. That I think if
Speaker 2: the cell phone companies go up and argue about liability issues,
Speaker 2: that a lot of the members of the legislature might
Speaker 2: be able to be persuaded to slow something down. But
Speaker 2: just to save this group of high school students, freshman
Speaker 2: and sophomore, juniors and seniors and middle school students, I'd
Speaker 2: just let to see the bell developing passed immediately and
Speaker 2: then take on the tougher issues. If they want to
Speaker 2: fight you with the tougher issues, we'll get whatever support
Speaker 2: you know you need on those. But I just I'm
Speaker 2: afraid that and I think you probably know what I'm
Speaker 2: saying that that we'll we'll be talking about this sometime
Speaker 2: in late July, or rather late June with the legislative
Speaker 2: the formal session going out, and then we go into
Speaker 2: informal session beginning on August first, which anyone legislator can object.
Speaker 2: So that's my concern is that that the perfect will
Speaker 2: be the will be the enemy.
Speaker 3: Of the of the good on you know, yeah, I
Speaker 3: think on Beacon Hill, right, there's there's there's sort of
Speaker 3: two routes often right one is additional one where just
Speaker 3: it takes a long long time to get something done.
Speaker 3: But then there's the other instance right where we move
Speaker 3: all these swiftly on something in part and response to
Speaker 3: health risk and give an issue. You know, look, if
Speaker 3: we've seen anything over the last you know, week or two,
Speaker 3: we can't count on social media corporations to be looking
Speaker 3: out for health and safety and the well being of
Speaker 3: a young people's that's clear to me now more than ever.
Speaker 3: I think the bell to bell policy as well as
Speaker 3: really common sense and so just hoping that this one's
Speaker 3: going to be in that sort of swifter category. Heck,
Speaker 3: if we get this done by Junior July this year,
Speaker 3: that'll be a record time. But I know you're talking
Speaker 3: about the second year of the session in twenty twenty six,
Speaker 3: but you know, really really eager to work on it.
Speaker 3: I think the track record of getting things don Alice
Speaker 3: Pie is a very respective member in the House, and
Speaker 3: to have the support of the Attorney General here, I
Speaker 3: think is hopefully a recipe for swift action on an
Speaker 3: issue that we need.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, best of luck with it, Thank you one.
Speaker 2: This is one that I think everyone should agree on.
Speaker 2: But do me a favor if you are able to
Speaker 2: make significant progress on the whole ball of wax and
Speaker 2: dealing with it as one piece of legislation that covers
Speaker 2: everything the bell to bell as well as the issues
Speaker 2: of liability and all of that. Let me know about
Speaker 2: it and we'll support you on that. But at the
Speaker 2: same time, I hope we're not talking about this six
Speaker 2: months or a year from now and it's still has
Speaker 2: in terms of the bell the bell, because I think
Speaker 2: I think that it's very clear that that that distraction
Speaker 2: in school. Hey, when you and I were in high school,
Speaker 2: there are enough distractions anyway, we didn't need cell phones
Speaker 2: to even further complicate matters. So yeah, keep us posted
Speaker 2: on it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I appreciate it, and uh all right, we'll tire
Speaker 3: swist as we can. Thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 2: You're very welcome. State Senator Julian Syrah, Democrat who represents
Speaker 2: Cape Cod and the Islands. Now, what I'd like to
Speaker 2: hear I would like to hear from all of you
Speaker 2: on this, uh it particularly if you're somebody who has
Speaker 2: either students or grand children in school. Uh if you
Speaker 2: are remember of a member of the teacher, a teacher
Speaker 2: in high schools or or junior high schools, and I
Speaker 2: suspect that it's also at this point bleeding down or
Speaker 2: leaking down into elementary schools. What is the benefit at
Speaker 2: all of a student who's in high school or in
Speaker 2: junior high school or in elementary school. You get twelve grades,
Speaker 2: you get preschool obviously in kindergarten, but it gets a
Speaker 2: little serious after the first and second grade, so he
Speaker 2: get about ten years between, you know, by time they
Speaker 2: get out of the second grade and you've got to graduate. Okay,
Speaker 2: And there's no justification in my opinion for anyone opposing
Speaker 2: this bill. What the Senator said was that when it
Speaker 2: gets into the other portions of the legislation dealing with
Speaker 2: liability issues, yeah, the lawyers and the lobbyists are going
Speaker 2: to come in and say, hey, wait a second, it's
Speaker 2: a telephone. I mean, it's the same as the telephone
Speaker 2: that people used in the nineteen thirties, forties, fifties, sixties, seventies,
Speaker 2: and eighties. That there can be abuses. So jump on
Speaker 2: board on this one because I think this is one
Speaker 2: where we need to talk about it a little bit,
Speaker 2: because it is a no brainer. But as soon as
Speaker 2: the Senator talked about any of the complexities, get on
Speaker 2: the books, what we can get on the books, we
Speaker 2: are you know, the state where Horace Man founded public education. Well,
Speaker 2: there's a lot of public education that's not going on
Speaker 2: because the distractions of cell phone six one seven, two, five,
Speaker 2: four ten thirty six one seven, nine three one ten thirty.
Speaker 2: This is one of those issues that I do not
Speaker 2: believe is a Democrat, Republican, conservative, liberal or any everyone
Speaker 2: should be in favor of this. Bring a cell phone.
Speaker 2: You want to have a cell phone on the school bus,
Speaker 2: want to have a cell phone, walk into school, whatever, Fine,
Speaker 2: when you get to school, it's got to be stowed,
Speaker 2: and it's got to be turned off, and you don't
Speaker 2: have access until you go to your locker at the
Speaker 2: end of the day to leave the school. Simple as that.
Speaker 2: And it doesn't get turned on until you're off the
Speaker 2: school property, and it doesn't get it doesn't get it's
Speaker 2: turned off as soon as you walk onto the school property.
Speaker 2: I think it's simple call me and agree or disagree
Speaker 2: six one seven, two four ten thirty six one seven
Speaker 2: nine three one ten thirty. And those of you that
Speaker 2: have classroom experience, obviously students, you were more than welcome
Speaker 2: to call in and tell me either your positive stories
Speaker 2: about cell phones or your negative stories. Again, nothing wrong
Speaker 2: with cell phones, just like there's nothing wrong with automobiles,
Speaker 2: nothing wrong with a lot of things except how they're
Speaker 2: used when they're used. Back on Night's Side after.
Speaker 1: This, Now back to Dan ray Line from the Window
Speaker 1: World Night Side Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2: So there was a story in The Globe which prompted
Speaker 2: this conversation, this issue tonight, this topic. We've talked about
Speaker 2: it before. And there was a need and mom who
Speaker 2: held a photograph of her daughter who was only eighteen
Speaker 2: years old and who had died buried at a cemetery
Speaker 2: in Newton. And the mom believes that her daughter, who died,
Speaker 2: according to the Globe, from an accidental overdose of drugs
Speaker 2: that have been laced with fentanyl, she acquired through a
Speaker 2: deal as she met through social media. Now that's a
Speaker 2: broader issue, okay, And it goes to the issue of
Speaker 2: just the accessibility that young people have through their cell phones.
Speaker 2: But I think that genie is out of the bottle
Speaker 2: and I don't think that there's any way that it
Speaker 2: can be put back in. The cell phones are out there,
Speaker 2: computers are out there. Kids can reach and get access
Speaker 2: to things that people your age and my age would
Speaker 2: never ever know how to find. And our heart goes
Speaker 2: out to the woman who was profiled in the Globe
Speaker 2: in the last couple of days and the loss of
Speaker 2: her daughter, and the just the expression on her face tells,
Speaker 2: it tells the heartbreak that she must that she has
Speaker 2: to have here for the daughter, who is who's who's
Speaker 2: lost her life at the age of eighteen. But that's
Speaker 2: that's the larger focus. And in talking to state senators here,
Speaker 2: the larger focus was what do you do to legislatively
Speaker 2: impact these cell phones in terms of their liability, and
Speaker 2: which as understandable, okay, but and but that's going to
Speaker 2: complicate things in my opinion on Beacon Hill. And you've
Speaker 2: often heard the phrase never let the perfect the enemy
Speaker 2: of the good. And they should simply pass a piece
Speaker 2: of legislation that would say, hey, in Massachusetts public schools.
Speaker 2: I don't know that they have the ability to legislate
Speaker 2: in terms of private schools. Let's just focus on public schools,
Speaker 2: whether it's elementary, middle which I think everybody knows is
Speaker 2: sort of sixth, seventh, eighth or seventh eighth, ninth, and
Speaker 2: high schools that when your child or your grandchild walks
Speaker 2: onto that school property. At seven thirty in the morning,
Speaker 2: the cell phone goes off, and certainly when they walk
Speaker 2: in the door, the cell phone is put in some
Speaker 2: sort of a safe location. They can put in their
Speaker 2: locker as long as they don't access their locker later
Speaker 2: on during the day or access to cell phone. They
Speaker 2: can go back and forth to their locker, but the
Speaker 2: cell phone has to be in a safe place. The
Speaker 2: safest place is not to bring it to school. Okay,
Speaker 2: but there are several school departments, public schools, districts Rocked
Speaker 2: and Fall River, Methunea, and Ipswich have implemented their own
Speaker 2: cell phone bands. There are eight states around the country California,
Speaker 2: Big State, Florida, Big State, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Ohio, South Carolina,
Speaker 2: and Virginia. Some of those states are fairly democratic, some
Speaker 2: of those states are pretty Republican. Some of those states
Speaker 2: are pretty balanced. The bottom line is, I don't think
Speaker 2: there should be any disagreement amongst anyone that the I
Speaker 2: can't think of a legitimate argument. I can think of
Speaker 2: a couple of the arguments, and if you want to
Speaker 2: bring them up and argue them, that's fine. But I
Speaker 2: think there should be a groundswell of support of people
Speaker 2: urging the legislature here in Massachusetts to as Senator Seir
Speaker 2: referred to it as to being any access, never mind usage,
Speaker 2: just access to the cell phone bell de bell meaning
Speaker 2: from the moment in the morning when the bell rings
Speaker 2: until the moment of the afternoon when the bell rings.
Speaker 2: It's as simple as that. Now, maybe this is not
Speaker 2: a subject that interests you, but if it does, I
Speaker 2: want to hear from you. And if you have an
Speaker 2: experience as a teacher, if you find yourself trying to
Speaker 2: teach a class and you realize that some of the
Speaker 2: students are using their phone to either text message or
Speaker 2: to listen to other conversations, there are ways in which
Speaker 2: the kids today are much more intelligent and knowledgeable about
Speaker 2: how all of this technology works. They are being short changed.
Speaker 2: They have one chance at an education. Maybe the education
Speaker 2: will take them on through high school, into college and
Speaker 2: onto graduate school. Fine, but for many kids, the end
Speaker 2: of formal education comes many students at graduation at the
Speaker 2: age of eighteen. And I think that immeasurable harm is
Speaker 2: being done to the education of students in Massachusetts. We are,
Speaker 2: as they mentioned before, the state of Horace Man where
Speaker 2: public education was founded, and we should be able to
Speaker 2: take a very quick strong step legislatively House Senate Governor
Speaker 2: saying no cell phone usage in school Bell de Belle,
Speaker 2: that's what Senator Seir referred to it as. And and
Speaker 2: don't even complicate the other issues. Deal with the other
Speaker 2: issues later, same separate bill. Simple as that six one, seven, two, five,
Speaker 2: four ten thirty six one seven, nine three one ten thirty.
Speaker 2: Can any of you tell me an advantage? I just
Speaker 2: think that this is one of those where everyone agrees,
Speaker 2: but you're not courageous enough to pick off the phone
Speaker 2: and call. And if you disagree with me on this
Speaker 2: one and think that, oh yeah, won't my kid have
Speaker 2: a cell phone? Fine, let me know why. I don't
Speaker 2: understand it. Don't understand the argument. Back on Nightside after this.
Speaker 1: It's Nightside with Dan Ray on Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2: So we're talking about what I think of as a
Speaker 2: no brainer. But sometimes what I think of as a
Speaker 2: no brainer, people have pretty good arguments. Let's see what
Speaker 2: people have to say. Going to start it off with
Speaker 2: Steve and Cambridge. Steve to me, this is a no brainer.
Speaker 2: I mean, why should kids have cell phones in school?
Speaker 2: During the day when they're supposed to be learning.
Speaker 4: Dan, What I object to is the power that we
Speaker 4: give the state government to control our lives in so
Speaker 4: many ways. Sure enough, you know, taxes on cigarettes, seat belts,
Speaker 4: so many things. I mean, I'm not saying they're all
Speaker 4: bad or they're not good ideas, but I mean we are,
Speaker 4: as American citizens, are supposed to be individual and be
Speaker 4: able to make our decisions for ourselves, particularly adults. So
Speaker 4: I you know, Dan, I walk through the streets of
Speaker 4: Boston and Cambridge, and I get on the subways. It
Speaker 4: seems like everyone is mesmerized by cell phones, not just
Speaker 4: kids mesmerized all the time. What I would rather see is,
Speaker 4: evidently you said that there are school districts that have
Speaker 4: implemented strict cell phone rules.
Speaker 2: I think the Globe is reporting, and they have no
Speaker 2: reason to believe that it's inaccurate. But the Globe is reporting.
Speaker 2: There are about four different school systems around the state
Speaker 2: have done that. The ones in question interesting group Brockton,
Speaker 2: which is a school system that's in you know, real
Speaker 2: urban school system, Fall River, Mathrowing, and Ipswich, which are
Speaker 2: kind of more I don't know, they're None of those
Speaker 2: are what you call your wealthiest of towns, but every
Speaker 2: kid has a cell phone these days. My question is, Stave,
Speaker 2: here's my question to you. We're talking about you and
Speaker 2: I are taxed in large part to educate young people.
Speaker 2: I mean, that's one of the responsibilities that we have.
Speaker 2: We may not like it, but that's that's one of
Speaker 2: the places that my tax dollars go that I accept
Speaker 2: and understand. And if some kids in a classroom are
Speaker 2: trying to learn and others are goofing around talking on
Speaker 2: the cell phone, being distracting those kids, I would rather
Speaker 2: say to kids, hey, look, let let's split it up.
Speaker 2: Let's have classrooms where cell phones are used and kids
Speaker 2: where cell phones aren't used. It seems to me it
Speaker 2: has an adverse impact. It's one thing if I'm sitting
Speaker 2: if I'm sitting on an MBTA car, If I'm sitting
Speaker 2: on an MBT car and some knucklehead is next to
Speaker 2: me screaming or talking wildly into a cell phone, I
Speaker 2: can deal with that. I may say something and say, hey,
Speaker 2: can you kind of keep your conversation down or whatever.
Speaker 2: But if you're a kid in school and you're trying
Speaker 2: to concentrate and there's some goofball in the classroom? Who's talking?
Speaker 2: You know, sooac to his girlfriend in the back? Hey,
Speaker 2: where you want to go Friday night? Debbie? What would
Speaker 2: you like to go?
Speaker 4: Dan? Dan? I? You know, I one hundred percent agree
Speaker 4: with you. I think this should be up to the
Speaker 4: school districts and the principles. Why does it have to
Speaker 4: come from the state. Everything has to come to the state,
Speaker 4: you know, let's limit the number.
Speaker 2: Can I make an argument? Can I make an argument
Speaker 2: to you? My argument to you, counselor would be The
Speaker 2: reason I think this has to come from the state
Speaker 2: is that I don't don't trust all the school superintendents
Speaker 2: to do the right thing. And I think that if
Speaker 2: the school superintendents they all get you know, money, money
Speaker 2: from the state to run their school systems. It's not
Speaker 2: as if each school system is run basically upon just
Speaker 2: the money. They all get money for school systems. And
Speaker 2: I just think that take give the give the the
Speaker 2: superintendent who doesn't have a backbone and excuse to say, oh,
Speaker 2: I don't have a choice. If it was up to me,
Speaker 2: I'd let the kids do what they want. But but
Speaker 2: I have to I have to compose this because this
Speaker 2: is what the state says.
Speaker 4: Yeah, well, Dan, I think I think we're just ceding
Speaker 4: too much power to the state. And I think the
Speaker 4: principles the you know, parents are involved in the schools,
Speaker 4: uh to some extent, PTA associations, you know, parents, teachers associations.
Speaker 4: I think. I mean, I agree with you, it's a
Speaker 4: no brainer. I don't think the kids should have bones
Speaker 4: in the schools at all. I just don't want to
Speaker 4: see it going to the state.
Speaker 2: We disagree on the implementation. I get it. I understand
Speaker 2: the point you're making. It's a philosophical point. But I
Speaker 2: want to make sure it gets done, and I want
Speaker 2: to make sure it gets done for every kid who's
Speaker 2: serious about going to school. Look, if you're a goofball,
Speaker 2: you want to sit in the back of the room
Speaker 2: and and pass notes to your buddies and and and
Speaker 2: ignore what the teachers are saying. I can't prevent you
Speaker 2: from doing that. You know, have ad it, and you know,
Speaker 2: and deal with the consequences when when you're twenty five
Speaker 2: and unemployed or twenty two in on them and you're.
Speaker 4: Okay, Dan, Dan, I'll give you a pass on this one.
Speaker 2: Okay, Later, good night, Steve, and I generally are right
Speaker 2: on point with each other. They're going to go next
Speaker 2: to Alice in Beverly. Hey Alice, how are you tonight?
Speaker 5: Oh good, I've been a school nurse for a number
Speaker 5: of years.
Speaker 6: Oh thank you for calling it.
Speaker 5: I think it is a no brainer. And also some
Speaker 5: of the things that you talked about, like I think
Speaker 5: some kids, the kids would come into my nurse's office.
Speaker 5: I worked in public schools, in private schools, and kids
Speaker 5: would ask if they could use the telephones call their
Speaker 5: parents for something in particular, you know, and as opposed
Speaker 5: to using their cell phone when I was in public school,
Speaker 5: and that some of the things that they pulled that
Speaker 5: they said, something happened at home and I need to
Speaker 5: get dismissed, and they would make up these stories. I mean,
Speaker 5: some kids don't like school, they don't want to be there,
Speaker 5: and they would do anything they can to get out
Speaker 5: of it. In no days, Like just the other day,
Speaker 5: my friend said that her daughter was seemed to be
Speaker 5: coming down with something, and of course I disagreed with
Speaker 5: her because she said she wanted to let her come
Speaker 5: home and take a nap because she was playing hockey
Speaker 5: for the school hockey team. But what she did, but
Speaker 5: she did. She didn't have to call. She wasn't calling
Speaker 5: her daughter on her cell phone. She called the principal.
Speaker 5: Now the principal could have said, no, I'm not dismissing her,
Speaker 5: so she can play hockey. But you go through the
Speaker 5: principle and the same thing. It's like just like, I mean,
Speaker 5: I'm older than you. But you know, we got by
Speaker 5: with doing that. And that guy that said to me,
Speaker 5: the state's got too much power. Well, the state has
Speaker 5: rules and say we have to go to school one
Speaker 5: hundred and eighty days. Why don't we just throw all
Speaker 5: the rules out and just say do whatever you want.
Speaker 5: But there's the state can't say anything. You want an
Speaker 5: educated population, Why the heck do you need to be
Speaker 5: talking on a cell phone? And when she's doing a podcast,
Speaker 5: the whole class is doing.
Speaker 2: You know, I agree with you. I mean you and
Speaker 2: I are on the same page. The other thing, too,
Speaker 2: is I've heard some parents say, well, if there's ever
Speaker 2: some sort of a tragedy in the school, you know,
Speaker 2: like a school shooting, I want to know my child
Speaker 2: is safe. The last thing you want your child to
Speaker 2: do if there's a school shooting going on, and you
Speaker 2: want that kid to concentrate on hunkering down, making sure
Speaker 2: that they're behind some desks and they have some shelter,
Speaker 2: and they keep us quietly.
Speaker 5: What the people are telling them to do, because the
Speaker 5: grills and you just want some hysterical mother saying, oh,
Speaker 5: get out of there, and get out of there, and
Speaker 5: then the teachers saying, everybody, I've got a list here
Speaker 5: for all the kids. You know, they don't say shut up,
Speaker 5: but it's like, quiet, get in line, do what I
Speaker 5: tell you. I know what to do to keep you safe.
Speaker 2: Well, the other thing, the other thing, too, is the
Speaker 2: kid in the cell phone is going to you know,
Speaker 2: every the school is quiet, there's there's some guy walking
Speaker 2: around with a gun, and you know he's going to
Speaker 2: be dialing the cell phone. I'm okay, I'm okay, Yeah,
Speaker 2: don't worry about it. Everything's fine. Well, if the guy
Speaker 2: walking by the door he is and realizes the people
Speaker 2: in that room, he may decide to go in the room.
Speaker 2: And and that's you do not want your kid calling
Speaker 2: on a cell phone. You know, you want your kid
Speaker 2: to be quiet, as you said, follow the rules that
Speaker 2: the teachers or the school officials you know, supply, and
Speaker 2: it hunkered down and be as quiet as you can
Speaker 2: under the show.
Speaker 5: I also say dan because I had some parents who
Speaker 5: thought I was like too strict. They didn't want the
Speaker 5: kids to have immunizations. It's a straight rule, you know.
Speaker 5: And they thought that I was the principal actually thought
Speaker 5: I was picking on them because I was asking them
Speaker 5: to have the immunizations before they came into the school.
Speaker 5: I mean, he ended up leaving and taking a lucrative
Speaker 5: job with the Force.
Speaker 2: Well, you know what's amazing, And I don't open it
Speaker 2: this can of worms. But I agree with you. My
Speaker 2: kids got all the ammunizations. I get all the immunizations.
Speaker 2: I got my COVID shot, I get my flu shot.
Speaker 2: I believe I wasn't.
Speaker 5: I didn't need to get off on that.
Speaker 2: But I just no, no, no, but what But what
Speaker 2: I'm saying is at the same time, what we're now
Speaker 2: saying is all these kids who have come across the border,
Speaker 2: we have no idea what their immunization records are. We
Speaker 2: have no idea, and and we're moving them into the
Speaker 2: into the.
Speaker 5: Don't come to school at the public school if you
Speaker 5: don't agree.
Speaker 2: No, but no, but no, Alice, you're not here on
Speaker 2: what I'm saying. What I'm saying is we're we're saying
Speaker 2: to the to the to the parents of of of kids,
Speaker 2: school school kids who they know, get your shots, get
Speaker 2: your shots. But they're bringing in kids from halfway around
Speaker 2: the world. You have no idea what the immunizations that
Speaker 2: had or they haven't had, and they're mixing with the
Speaker 2: population and you have you are seeing some some some
Speaker 2: some diseases that we thought we were eradicated coming back.
Speaker 2: There may be a relation. Alice got to run because
Speaker 2: I pass my break. Thanks for getting us going here,
Speaker 2: and I appreciate you your work as a school nurse.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much. Okay, all right, we'll take a break,
Speaker 2: coming right back on Nightside, and I would mention to
Speaker 2: you that we're going to change topics at the top
Speaker 2: of the hour, So Angelo and Stella, you're all set.
Speaker 2: We'll be back on Nightside right after this.
Speaker 1: Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Speaker 1: Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna go to Stellar, then we're gonna go to Angelo.
Speaker 2: Let's go to Stella First Stellar in Manchester, Massachusetts. Hey, Stella, welcome,
Speaker 2: How are you tonight?
Speaker 7: I am well thank you, Dan, So Dan, I agree,
Speaker 7: no brainer, ring to ring, no cell.
Speaker 2: Phone, Yeah, bell, the bell, ring, the ring, whatever you
Speaker 2: want to call it. I'm with you. I'm afraid and
Speaker 2: I don't know if if you heard my interview with
Speaker 2: State Senator Julian Seer. What my concern is that they
Speaker 2: will try to put a bill together that will be
Speaker 2: so complicated that it will it will languish up. Let's
Speaker 2: just do the first one, bell to bell, no cell
Speaker 2: phone usage. Then you start talking about the liability of
Speaker 2: the cell phones because of the cell phone companies, because
Speaker 2: they're going to bring in their lawyers and they're going
Speaker 2: to say, hey, there's a problem with this, there's a
Speaker 2: problem with that. That's what I think. I'm afraid that
Speaker 2: they will end up the legislature will end up with nothing.
Speaker 7: Ah well, first of all, call me Nai, but I
Speaker 7: think if we go to this, it will be not
Speaker 7: only helpful in the classroom, but just think about it.
Speaker 7: They can talk to each other on their free time,
Speaker 7: during their free time, their lunchtime. They're not going to
Speaker 7: have those cell phones to keep them occupied, and that
Speaker 7: could make a little bit of a change for our
Speaker 7: young people.
Speaker 2: And I think no, and I think it would be
Speaker 2: a change for the better. It's what's called human interaction.
Speaker 2: It's learning how to socialize properly. Look, we all go.
Speaker 2: I use a cell phone. I have a smartphone because
Speaker 2: it's part of my job. When I'm done professionally as
Speaker 2: a broadcaster, the cell phone, I'll keep the numbers of
Speaker 2: people who are friends of mine and all of that,
Speaker 2: but everything else will go away, because it's just it's
Speaker 2: a time killer. And I kind of imagine being a
Speaker 2: student and trying to study in the classroom where there's
Speaker 2: two or three people in the back of the classroom
Speaker 2: talking to you under their front, under their breath, with
Speaker 2: covering up their phones, and so the teacher doesn't see them.
Speaker 2: You know, Hey, what are we going to do Friday night?
Speaker 2: You know, come on, That's what I think.
Speaker 6: Well, not all of that. The temptation you have it
Speaker 6: and then you want to look at it. That's I mean,
Speaker 6: it just makes sense. So as much as I don't
Speaker 6: want government dictating what we do, in this case, I
Speaker 6: definitely think no cell phone and sell. Okay, you have
Speaker 6: another caller and the break coming out.
Speaker 2: Thank you, thanks very much, you keep calling the show.
Speaker 2: Okay you good night. Angelo and Newton. Angela, you're gonna
Speaker 2: wrap the hour for us. I'm suspecting you agree with me, Angela,
Speaker 2: what do you say?
Speaker 8: Yeah?
Speaker 2: I do?
Speaker 1: Dan.
Speaker 8: Did you ever have a phone when you went to school?
Speaker 8: Did I have have a hope, have a phone I
Speaker 8: went to school, No, we even.
Speaker 2: I don't think we even had pencils and paper when
Speaker 2: I went to school, Noly Knning.
Speaker 8: Yeah, did you ever take a calculator or a computer
Speaker 8: to school?
Speaker 2: No?
Speaker 8: You never had. You have to today? Then? Well today, the.
Speaker 2: Kids I still know. I still do my multiplication tables.
Speaker 2: I know eleven times eleven is one hundred and twenty one.
Speaker 8: Yeah, yeah, you.
Speaker 2: Know what, Let me what is eleven? Let me make
Speaker 2: sure I got to write that down now, just for
Speaker 2: the fun of it. Eleven times eleven, Yeah it is
Speaker 2: one twenty one? Right, Okay, I was good on that.
Speaker 8: Okay. The the how do you expect the kids to learn?
Speaker 8: If they have a phone, they go to school to learn,
Speaker 8: and if there's another kid sitting there beside them, he's
Speaker 8: trying to learn something and the other kids on the phone,
Speaker 8: how did you expect them to learn anything?
Speaker 2: I agree with I think it's distracting and and I'm
Speaker 2: with you. But what my fear is, and I raised
Speaker 2: it to Senator Seer, is that they'll try to do
Speaker 2: you know, they love to refruit to these We're going
Speaker 2: to do an omnibus bill here, which is going to
Speaker 2: cover everything, every possibility. You know, the the companies, they're
Speaker 2: not going to fight you on whether or not kids
Speaker 2: have cell phones in school. They won't fight you on
Speaker 2: that because that doesn't it doesn't they don't make any
Speaker 2: money on that. But if all of a sudden, you're
Speaker 2: throwing in liability issues and my kid committed suicide and
Speaker 2: maybe he was on the cell phone too much during
Speaker 2: the day or he was being harassed, Now at that
Speaker 2: point you've got the lawyers coming in. The lawyer's going
Speaker 2: to be saying whoa, whoa, whoa Wait a sec they say.
Speaker 2: That's why I suggested to the Senator from the Cape
Speaker 2: and the Islands, split the bill. Take the Take the
Speaker 2: simple part that everyone agrees upon no kids should have
Speaker 2: cell phones in school between when school starts and when
Speaker 2: school ends. Bell the bell and get that passa. Then
Speaker 2: go after them on liability issues separately.
Speaker 8: Yeah, when they if they want to bring your phone
Speaker 8: to school, either keep in your locker room and keep
Speaker 8: it locked up, or either bring it to school and
Speaker 8: leave it in the principal's office. At the end of it,
Speaker 8: then they'll give it back to you.
Speaker 2: But don't age they're going to. What they'll have to
Speaker 2: do is say to these kids, you got to leave
Speaker 2: it in the locker and you can't touch it because
Speaker 2: you know what happen is if everybody gets in the
Speaker 2: principal's office at three o'clock in the afternoon, you get
Speaker 2: a couple of hundred kids try to find the right phones.
Speaker 2: Kids would be walking around, where's my phone? No, that
Speaker 2: would be a headache for the principle anywhere. All right, Agelo,
Speaker 2: thank you. I knew you'd be with me on this one.
Speaker 2: Thank you, my friend.
Speaker 8: You welcome there. You have a good reading. Thank you.
Speaker 2: All right, thanks, all right, we get back. We're going
Speaker 2: to talk about a showdown between a couple of presidents,
Speaker 2: the president of Columbia and the President of the United States.
Speaker 2: Gotta tell you, Donald Trump won this one.
Speaker 6: Uh.
Speaker 2: If you're not hip to what happened over the weekend,
Speaker 2: the President of Columbia flexed his muscles and then he
Speaker 2: then he caved. Uh. So this is one you got
Speaker 2: to give Donald Trump credit on We'll be back, We'll
Speaker 2: open up the phone lines, we'll talk about the Columbia
Speaker 2: president who he caved, you know, and I'm glad he
Speaker 2: did trust me on that, back on Night's side, after
Speaker 2: this