Cell Phone Jammers Available But Illegal
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — What is a cell phone jammers? And why don’t we all have one?
Professional wrestler and current Florida high school teacher Dean Liptak recently had a run-in with administrators and the legal department. Imagine telling that person you forgot to do your science homework. Not by smacking a teenager who desperately needs an attitude adjustment to the mat (although one can only imagine the fortitude it takes to not do that every day). Instead, he found a less radical but more illegal way to stop kids from checking their phones during class.
Teacher Liptak, a former wrestler who now teaches science at Fairview Middle School, had been looking for ways to stop students from using their phones during class.
Liptak brought a cell phone jammer to school, a radio frequency transmitter designed to block, disrupt or otherwise interfere with authorized radio communications. The device blocks cell phone signals and discourages teens from using their phones.
"I just wanted to get rid of the problem of using cell phones in class," Litak told local investigators.
"Not only may your actions violate federal law, but they also seriously endanger the safety of students. If a dangerous situation occurs, students cannot call 911 in time, and the consequences will be disastrous," local police chief Kurt Browning wrote to Litak.
"I used that device just to help students concentrate and listen to the class," Litak said.
The problem is that it prevents everyone in the area from using cell phones, including emergency responders. That's why you need to know that even if you can buy them online, federal law prohibits the marketing, sale or use of jammers.
[source:cbsnews]