Can we talk?

SALISBURY POST

Sometimes the problems schoolteachers encounter aren’t anything new. They’re just old problems with a high-tech twist.

Students still pass messages in class and talk in hallways, for instance. Nowadays, they’re just likely to do so with cell phones and beepers.

To cut down on these electronic disruptions, the Rowan-Salisbury school system is considering banning such devices, or allowing students to have them at school only with their parents’ permission.

With everything else that confronts them, teachers shouldn’t have to be bugged by beepers, or cell phones. The school system should keep these nuisances to a minimum, either with an outright ban or restrictions that greatly decrease their numbers.

Some parents may have hardships that make a strong argument for their children carrying the devices. But for many others, that electronic connection is simply a convenience that buys a little time in a too-busy day.

Schools don’t have a responsibility to make life convenient for us. They have a responsibility to educate our kids — and they shouldn’t have to tolerate high-tech toys that distract from that mission.