Kids spend more time in high school sending text messages than reading textbooks, a New Jersey father discovered to his horror – after his 16-year-old daughter rang up a whopping $1,058 cellphone bill.
The bill covered a month and a half, was more than 200 pages long and listed more than 12,000 text messages, said John Taylor of Oaklyn.
His daughter Ashley had sent and received almost all those messages while she was in school, where students are supposed to stow their cellphones in their lockers before classes start.
Ashley, a junior at Gloucester City HS, “no longer has a cellphone,” said Taylor, who now knows why his daughter has been failing math and social studies.
“She was busy textmessaging in both classes and she got Fs in both – from not paying attention,” he said.
Her cellphone bill showed messages sent “at 8:01, 8:02, 8:03, 8:04 – all the way through to 3 p.m. on some days,” he said.
“Everyone in school” is doing it, he said.
“The kids are using their cellphones to contact other kids or to get answers from each other,” he said.
“My daughter told me some kids use them when they have tests, they textmessage answers.”
Although cellphones are supposed to be locked away during school hours, many students hide them in their handbags, book bags or clothing, school spokeswoman Lynda Lathrop told The Courier-Post of Cherry Hill.
And when students text-message in class, their teachers don’t always notice, she said.
If they are spotted, their cells are taken away and returned at the end of the school day, she said.
“I don’t buy it,” Taylor scoffed.
“You can’t tell me my daughter was able to send over 12,000 text messages in 30 days and nobody saw it,” he said.
Ashley was caught only once text-messaging in class – and the teacher simply told her to put her cellphone away, Taylor said. It wasn’t taken from her.
He said he got the cellphone for Ashley for use in emergencies, not so she could text-message her friends. Now, he wants cellphones banned in school.
Taylor said he understands that 9/11 made everyone security-conscious and concerned about being able to contact family members in an emergency.
“But let’s stop using 9/11 as an excuse,” he said.
“If there’s an emergency, students can go to the principal’s office and use the phone there.
“When I was in school, when I got sick or had a problem, that’s what I did.”
Taylor, who paid his daughter’s bill, said “I definitely learned a good thing here.”
He said his younger children, ages 9 and 4, “are never getting cellphones from me. They can wait till they’re 18.”
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Reckless and wireless
How the various text-messaging plans compare:
VERIZON
100 text messages, $2.99 per month
250 TMs, $4.99
1000 TMs, $9.99
2500 TMs, $19.99
Note: 10 cents for every text message sent and 2 cents for every text message received if over the monthly allotment
T-MOBILE
300 TMs, $2.99
1000 TMs, $6.99
Note: 5 cents for every message (in or out) if over the monthly allotment
NEXTEL
100 TMs, $4.99
500 TMs, $7.99
Unlimited TMs, $14.99
Note: 10 cents for every message (in or out) if over the monthly allotment
CINGULAR
50 TMs, $2.99
1000 TMs, $9.99
Note: 10 cents for every message (in or out) if over the monthly allotment
SPRINT
100 TMs, $5
Unlimited TMs, $10
Note: 10 cents for every message (in or out) if over the monthly allotment
Source: Company customer service operators
T-MOBILE
Bill for his daughter
200 pages
12,000 text messages
$1,058 total
