Cell Phones on Tour

[passionatedc]

My mention of the Cavaliers success, and their philosiphies ties into this debate quite well...

No it doesn't. You can't prove to me in ANY WAY that a kid's lack of use of a cell phone while eating dinner or on the bus has any affect on their performance on a drum corps field. You are trying to build a straw man and no matter how hard you try...it's not coming to life!

[passionatedc]

It's funny how everyone is so worried that members can't call home 2-3 times a week. I marched for 7 years and I believe I made one phone call during that time to my brother to tell him the scores from a show where we had just done great.

Other than that my parents wouldn't hear from me except at the canton show when they came to watch or when I got home from tour.

I'll say it again. That was a different day and age! I'll say THIS again too. It used to be safe for an 8 year old kid to ride his or her bike all over town...I'm talking at least 4-5 MILES from home...on BUSY STREETS (that used to be me). Today, it's hardly safe for a kid to ride his bike past his own driveway. Sad that this world has come to this point...but it has.

Edited April 30, 2007 by passionatedc

[Laurakemb]

I didn't have a cell phone for two years, did have one for two years of my drum corps career.

When I didn't have one, getting in contact with family and friends for just routine updates was a huge hassle. The entire corps wanted to use the one or two pay phones in the school, so we ended up talking for very short periods and there was always a really long line to use the phone.

When I did have a cell phone, I only used it for quick updates after shows and on free days. It definitely didn't distract me from my summer "job", but rather gave me a quick escape from it to refocus and come back energized and ready to kick some more rear! It was always turned off and hidden in my rehearsal bag when not in use.

To each their own, though......

[DutchCousin]

I'll say it again...different age...different time. There is no such thing as being "an over protective parent any more".

And what exactly do you think you can do if your child is 3000 miles away and gets "attacked"? Calling home will not save your kid. More likely your child will get run over by a car around the block (btw, not even your speaker phone will prevent that) than become a victim of a terrorist attack. If you want to keep them safe, lock'em up in the house until they're no longer your responsibility. Don't send them on tour all over the USA. You make it sound like the only way to contact your kid is to call him/her on their cell phone. There are numbers for staff that you can call while the corps is on tour. This works even faster than calling your child directly since most of the time he/she will not be allowed to have the phone switched on. They will not notice you called, until the next meal time. A staff member can get your kid out of rehearsal within minutes in case of emergency. Furthermore will there be opportunities for members to call home, so nobody is cutting kids of from their families. But as usual pasionatedc you have your opinion ready without knowing all the facts. So please next time, get some information about the stuff you respond to, so at least you know what it's all about.

Lord help me to keep my big mouth shut, until I know what I'm talking about

[siuehist]

First of all, drum corps is not the military and is a YOUTH ACTIVITY. A kid in the military is over the age of 18. That alone makes it a HUGE difference. How many kids do we have UNDER the age of 18 in today's activity. ALOT! At the very least, the parents of THOSE kids have a right to a certain amount of control over how they are able to communicate with their kids.

I was in Iraq, and if I got to use the phone for personal use a few times a month, I was lucky! Curse you CENTCOM, you cultish, unhealthy organization!

Military in the Middle East have virtually no control over their use of private communication.

Edited April 30, 2007 by siuehist

[Appleknocker]

This is unbelievable,...arguing about cell phones.

Many parents have responded to this perceived need for personal security by purchasing cell phones for their children, but this, too, has had some unintended consequences. One sociologist has noted that parents who do this are implicitly commenting on their own sense of security or insecurity in society. “Claiming to care about their children’s safety,” Chantal de Gournay writes, “parents develop a ‘paranoiac’ vision of the community, reflecting a lack of trust in social institutions and in any environment other than the family.” As a result, they choose surveillance technologies, such as cell phones, to monitor their children, rather than teaching them (and trusting them) to behave appropriately. James E. Katz, a communications professor at Rutgers who has written extensively about wireless communication, argues that parents who give children cell phones are actually weakening the traditional bonds of authority; “parents think they can reach kids any time they want, and thus are more indulgent of their children’s wanderings,” Katz notes. Not surprisingly, “my cell phone battery died” has become a popular excuse among teenagers for failure to check in with their parents. And I suspect nearly everyone, at some point, has suffered hours of panic when a loved one who was supposed to be “reachable” failed to answer the cell phone.

Let the kids grow up as they choose,....if they are in a corps that prefers not to use cell phones, let them decide,...let them grow up.

[mistofflies]

First of all, drum corps is not the military and is a YOUTH ACTIVITY. A kid in the military is over the age of 18. That alone makes it a HUGE difference. How many kids do we have UNDER the age of 18 in today's activity. ALOT! At the very least, the parents of THOSE kids have a right to a certain amount of control over how they are able to communicate with their kids.

Most of the kinds in the Cavaliers are over 18.

Your point?

OMG JEFF FIELDER IS A DICTATOR LET BUSH KNOW SO WE CAN INVADE ROSEMONT!!!1!!!1111!!one!!11!! LULZ!!

[passionatedc]

And what exactly do you think you can do if your child is 3000 miles away and gets "attacked"? Calling home will not save your kid. More likely your child will get run over by a car around the block (btw, not even your speaker phone will prevent that) than become a victim of a terrorist attack. If you want to keep them safe, lock'em up in the house until they're no longer your responsibility. Don't send them on tour all over the USA. You make it sound like the only way to contact your kid is to call him/her on their cell phone. There are numbers for staff that you can call while the corps is on tour. This works even faster than calling your child directly since most of the time he/she will not be allowed to have the phone switched on. They will not notice you called, until the next meal time. A staff member can get your kid out of rehearsal within minutes in case of emergency. Furthermore will there be opportunities for members to call home, so nobody is cutting kids of from their families. But as usual pasionatedc you have your opinion ready without knowing all the facts. So please next time, get some information about the stuff you respond to, so at least you know what it's all about.

Obviously there are situations beyond control (terrorist attacks etc.). It's the principal of the thing. If I am going to send my kid all over the U.S., I #### well be allowed to communicate with him and I'll gladly get in the face of any corps director over that right.

[passionatedc]

I was in Iraq, and if I got to use the phone for personal use a few times a month, I was lucky! Curse you CENTCOM, you cultish, unhealthy organization!

Military in the Middle East have virtually no control over their use of private communication.

Read my response to Mike Boo regarding how I feel the military and drum corps are different.

[siuehist]

Yep, I read it.

Edited April 30, 2007 by siuehist