STUDENTS DEFEND USE OF PAGERS, DEFY STATE LAW

MC moves to ban electronic devices

Sharon Petrosky has been breaking the law every day since the morning
a stranger attacked her on her way to school.

Petrosky, 17, broke free of her attacker, but resorted to carrying a
telephone pager, or beeper, for her safety - despite a 1989 state law
making it illegal for students to carry paging devices on school property.

Now, the Manheim Central school board may strengthen the law with a
new policy barring electronic devices such as beepers, laser pointers
and cellular telephones from school property, vehicles and activities.

Only volunteer firefighters, ambulance crew members and students
needing a telephone pager because of a medical condition in the family
are exempt, according to a copy of the proposed policy.

The board approved the policy on its first reading earlier this month
and is expected to vote for final approval at its April 20 meeting.

High school principal Jere Murphy said there are relatively few
students who carry the devices to school. He has problems with an
average of only five to 10 of those students per year.

However, Murphy said he favors the policy.

"There's a whole variety of reasons," he said. "Primarily, because
it's disruptive to the classroom atmosphere when they go off during
class. There's no real reason for having them."

He has similar reasons for wanting to disallow portable
phones.

"From my perspective as a principal, they're unnecessary," Murphy
said. "A parent can always get hold of a student through the office,
the same way they did for you and me."

Even without an official district policy, the devices are banned from
school property by state law. Murphy said the law was probably
initiated in more urban areas because of problems "with drug deals,
hits being set up, things like that."

Once enacted as a district policy, he said, the prohibition will be
added to the student handbook.

At Manheim Central the cellular phones, laser pointers and beepers are
simply confiscated when found, he said. They are returned to the
students after school. If a student violates the policy several times,
Murphy added, it can lead to suspension.

The principal said relatively few students carry portable phones or
pagers, but students said they're fairly common. Murphy said he has
heard no negative feedback on the proposed policy, but several
students interviewed said they disagree with it.

Dustin Miller, 18, estimated "about a third of the students carry
beepers."

Students typically don't flaunt them, Miller said. "Nobody knows. I
keep it under my shirt."

Petrosky agreed that beepers are common at the high
school.

"Everyone has beepers," she said. "It's like putting your shoes on in
the morning."

Some students said the beepers make it easier for their parents to
reach them, either at school or at after-school jobs. But Murphy said
parents who need to reach their children can call the school office
and track them down.

If someone in a student's family is seriously ill, that student is
exempt from the ban, the principal noted.

The other exemption applies to volunteer firefighters and ambulance
crew members. Adam Martin, 17, is a volunteer fireman who chooses not
to carry a beeper to school.

Still, Martin said, the proposed policy is "a little
strict."