School System Considers Jamming Students' Phones

An anonymous reader writes "The St. Ansgar, Iowa school system is considering buying cell-phone jamming equipment for up to $5000 if it is deemed legal. The use of the equipment would be suspended in the case of an emergency, but one has to wonder if they would be quick enough to shut it down should an emergency arise. 'A Federal Communications Commission notice issued in 2005 says the sale and use of transmitters that jam cellular or personal communications services is unlawful.'"

In before...

[sakdoctor]

In before completely unrealistic, hypothetical scenario involving an off-work doctor who is out on his unicycle, when someone gets their second cellphone stuck in their throat, and would have been saved if it hadn't been for the phone-jamming equipment in operation at a nearby school.

Jam?

[clone53421]

What kind? Blackberry?

Re:WTF?

[Anonymous Coward]

Because we all know that kids never violate school rules...

Re:Faraday shield

[sakdoctor]

Tin foil is even cheaper. And it looks really cool and quasi-futuristic.

Re:more info

[Anonymous Coward]

Why hello, anon.

Re:back in my day

[snowraver1]

I think you are having a flashback of WWF summerslam '88

Not so bad

[atomic_bomberman]

When I was in high school, rock music and dancing were illegal. We couldn't even dance at prom. That is, until Kevin Bacon moved to our town.

Re:back in my day

[Anonymous Coward]

Thanks, mid-nineties-culture-reference-guy!

Re:back in my day

[Clueless Moron]

So are vocal chords

Aw Christ... a chorus of crazy characters might use a corps of vocal cords to sing a chronicle of chromatic chords, but it's still spelled vocal "cords", not "chords".

Get off my lawn.

[Hillview]

Back in my day, we didn't have beepers. We didn't have fire alarms. The PA system was the teacher yelling across the room. Barefoot, through five miles of three foot snow, and uphill both ways, dammit!

Re:Oh good argumentation!

[DavidTC]

The logical conclusion is that school shootings cause cell phones.

Re:Just to be a wikipedian dick..

[lgw]

[Needs Citation]

Here you go. [howstuffworks.com]

Calling someone a liar makes you the asshole. Just so you know.

Re:back in my day

[EdIII]

Disclaimer: I do have games installed on my graphing calculator.

Disclaimer: I used my graphing calculator for porn... BOOBS....

Re:back in my day

[Anonymous Coward]

a METAL chair... dammit, I should have thought of that. I'd still have my backpack!

Re:back in my day

[goofyspouse]

I see both spellings.

I do, too, but that is only because grandparent spelled it correctly and great-grandparent spelled it incorrectly.

Re:back in my day

[PPH]

In my day we didn't have screenshots.

You just had to take people's word for things...or risk getting beaten over the head with a chair.