GeorgiaGirl Posted January 15, 2008 Share Posted January 15, 2008 Arrrghh, cell phones. We had dinner with some friends not long ago, and their otherwise-normal 15-year-old son called Mommy eight times before 9:00 that night. She was at her wits' end; he was used to her being at his beck and call every second, and finally pestered her until she gave up and went home. I've seen moms answering cellphone calls from their kids during school hours. It's boring to use the "we never did ____ back in the day", but unless there's some earthshaking emergency, no, you don't need a phone during school. I've seen corps members being "pinged" incessantly by their hometown honeys. They don't get to be on tour, because every time there's a break, they're being mentally dragged back to Schenectady, or wherever. There's no question that they affect the amount of time that the kids should be spending just *being* with their fellow corps members, or sleeping/eating/rehearsing. The effect ranges from minimal to very invasive, but I think they diminish the drum corps experience. Just my virulent $0.02.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liebot Posted January 15, 2008 Share Posted January 15, 2008 I'd be interested in hearing from marchers who brought a phone on tour whether your used it as much in August as you did in June. Did your usage change as the summer progressed?HH Nah. Then again, I don't use my cell phone that much at all. But I like having it on tour - it's a very convenient, easy way to meet up with people I've marched with after the show as opposed to having to run through the buses and crowds trying to find them in the fifteen minutes we have before the bus departs. There are some people that overuse them and kind of isolate themselves from the group because they're always on the phone, but that group of people is pretty small. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euponitone Posted January 15, 2008 Share Posted January 15, 2008 I think Cell phones should be banned from tour.If there is an emergency....any responsible corps will have a process in place to notify parents. Learning to live away from home and to develop new relationships is a part of what makes marching such a great learning experience. Heck...even Gameboys or iPods can lead to anti-social behaivor. No thanks. I respect the cavaliers and their policy, but some people take things overboard. Sure, people can become introverted and antisocial with technology, but there is such a thing as 'too much'. I spend 24 hours a day, for 90 days in a row, living in close quarters with the same 150 people, and now you tell me that I shouldn't be able to escape into my own music or communication for a couple of minutes? Right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iPlaydaTuba Posted January 15, 2008 Share Posted January 15, 2008 No thanks.I respect the cavaliers and their policy, but some people take things overboard. Sure, people can become introverted and antisocial with technology, but there is such a thing as 'too much'. I spend 24 hours a day, for 90 days in a row, living in close quarters with the same 150 people, and now you tell me that I shouldn't be able to escape into my own music or communication for a couple of minutes? Right. agreed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy2430 Posted January 15, 2008 Share Posted January 15, 2008 Cell phones don't need to be banned. If a corps wants to ban them, I don't mind that as long as they have an alternate plan in place for contacting family. This summer I saw my grandmother for the last time when my corps came through my hometown. I would not have been able to set up that meeting without a cell phone. My family wouldn't have known when mealtimes where and been able to get her to the school we were staying at. Later in the summer when she passed away, I was in Colorado, and had to wait until the corps got to Oregon to fly home from Boise, Idaho. I only had a small window of time to get home and back, before the corps was moving on to Nevada, where we were 5 hours from the nearest airport. There's no way I could have coordinated that without a cell phone. Obviously cell phones can be overused, but, like anything else, they are something that young adults in this activity or anywhere else need to learn to be responsible with. Drum corps is an activity where your time is managed for you, and it's your own fault if you don't learn something from that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euponitone Posted January 15, 2008 Share Posted January 15, 2008 Cell phones don't need to be banned. If a corps wants to ban them, I don't mind that as long as they have an alternate plan in place for contacting family. This summer I saw my grandmother for the last time when my corps came through my hometown. I would not have been able to set up that meeting without a cell phone. My family wouldn't have known when mealtimes where and been able to get her to the school we were staying at. Later in the summer when she passed away, I was in Colorado, and had to wait until the corps got to Oregon to fly home from Boise, Idaho. I only had a small window of time to get home and back, before the corps was moving on to Nevada, where we were 5 hours from the nearest airport. There's no way I could have coordinated that without a cell phone. Obviously cell phones can be overused, but, like anything else, they are something that young adults in this activity or anywhere else need to learn to be responsible with. Drum corps is an activity where your time is managed for you, and it's your own fault if you don't learn something from that. Pretty much. How about a ban of cell phones at rehearsal fields, maybe even meals if you want to take it farther. Drum corps have rules for everything else, why not cell phones if you want to go that route.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryTrooper Posted January 15, 2008 Share Posted January 15, 2008 (edited) Aahh… Once again the balance of the good and evil of technology… On one hand you have the no cell phones idea of less interruption means more focus on the task at hand. Winning… Staying focus on what you have committed to do. On the other you have individual freedoms and the convenience of coordinating ones free time on tour. Is this a states rights or federal case issue? Sounds like it should be up to each corps to decide. I think we will see a reduction in the amount of payphones as times goes on because of cell phones. I went to visit an old DC buddy a couple of years back in Mass. When I got to his town I could not find a phone both any place to call him. I had to ask store owners if I could use the phone to call. It took a few tries before a store owner would actually dial the number for me and hand me the headset... Talk about feeling like a fossil… I bet that the more intense, focused corps will have rules like no cell phones or things that might distract from the overall strength or focus of the corp if they see that as being a problem… It won’t come without problems thought. Edited January 15, 2008 by GaryTrooper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Posted January 15, 2008 Share Posted January 15, 2008 Over the past three years, I've found that cell phone usage is usually not permitted until you are done all your corps jobs or the show is over. My rookie year in DCI, I used my phone a lot more than I did the past two years. I only call home if I have to (spending money, perhaps). You're more likely to find me calling a friend or two in other corps to meet up with them after a show. Otherwise, I understand that I only have a certain amount of time with the people in the corps, so I want to make the most of it. I forgot to mention that my cell phone died about two weeks into tour last summer, so my only communication device was when I could call my parents from my seat partner's phone. I don't think I acted much different than I did when I had a phone at my own disposal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casaba Posted January 15, 2008 Share Posted January 15, 2008 A few thoughts...first: AT&T has just disbanded their payphone business. There are no more payphones for them, other vendors still have some, but the bottom line is they are dying. That said however, my son is going into his third year marching and is a teenager still in early high school. He blew up the phone over the summer with text messages but I think I spoke to him on his phone maybe 10 times between both summer combined! He just isn't the talking kind but did like to keep in touch with friends and us via txt. That was enjoyable to me to know he would txtx me after a show to say how they did. I haven't seen it to be a problem and I think it has more to do with what the Corps expects of you and instills in you as your responsibility Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piper Posted January 15, 2008 Share Posted January 15, 2008 When I marched, the only people who had cell phones were the Jetsons. Of course I have one now, but I always wondered how corps that permit them manage to recharge them all while on tour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts