The issue of mobile phones in schools has been bantered back and forth for a number of years. A school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US of A, has stepped up its fight against

“bootlegged”

mobile phones – quite literally.

The term ‘bootleg’ was coined from stuffing illegal liquor inside the boot and has branched out into almost anything illegally copied – or hidden and smuggled, such as the smartphones into classrooms.

A small percentage of the 600 students of the Pottstown Middle School system, comprising sixth- through eighth-grade children, have been sneaking their mobile phones into school in the open-top boots, Uggs, that are popular there.

Effective today, the school system has instituted a ban on not just mobile phone use in school but the wearing of any open-topped boot into class. Their goal is to stem the smartphone smuggling.

John Armato, Director of Public Relations for the district, stated:

“[Mobile] phones are a problem for obvious reasons.”

Superintendent Reed Lindley added that the school principal asked for the ban

“because of the classroom disruptions that are resulting from ringing cell phones.”

Parents and children alike protest the blanket boot decision, but at least most will comply with the rule or risk … ahem … a boot into detention. Three episodes of bootlegged mobile phone detention will cause confiscation of the mobile device.

[Ed note: Writer's editorial opinion follows.]

Whilst the editorial ‘we’ acknowledge education systems’ rights to mandate the lack of potential distraction and method of cheating, ‘we’ ask that school system this: What is next, educators – strip searches before being seated? Why not simply require mobiles be set on Silent mode and left out of sight during class time?

If you focus on the boot issue, punish the only the guilty: Ban the footwear for those who violate the rule. Don’t punish the innocent for liking the same style of shoe.

Odds are that those who smuggle smartphones into classrooms will find other ways or places to accomplish the same end.