BOCA RATON, Fla.-The majority of cell-phone users support policies that limit wireless usage in schools, according to an survey of 2,400 consumers by Amplitude Research.
Eighty-five percent of the 2,400 respondents said they support polices that allow phone use immediately before and after school but restrict wireless usage during school hours.
“While there was overall strong agreement from respondents residing in all regions of the country that cell-phone usage can be disruptive to the classroom environment and support of a policy limiting such use, we found that respondents residing in the Pacific region of the country (Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska, and Hawaii) were not as strong in their support as respondents residing in the Middle Atlantic (New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania) or East North Central (Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio) regions.,” said Steve Birnkrant, chief executive officer of Amplitude Research.
In addition, of the 1,100 parents surveyed who have school-age children, 23 percent allow their elementary-school children to have cell phones, 53 percent allow their middle-school children to have cell phones and 72 percent allow their high-school children to have cell phones. Forty percent of the 318 parents who allow their high-school children to have mobile phones require them to help pay for the bills.
About one-fifth of parents with school-age children said they were shocked by the amount of the first cell-phone bill.
