IN AN editorial last December we took note of the explosion of cellphone usage in Jamaica, part of the phenomenal sweep of this new technology around the world. As we noted then, the phenomenon has made an indelible stamp on the Jamaican people and culture 'for better and for worse'. The 'worse' or negative effects range from the indiscreet interruptions of church services, for example, to the tragic death of two schoolgirls, slain by miscreants who stole their phones. This shocking development has prompted a police crackdown on the basis that such thefts threaten to get out of control.
Also on the negative side, some schools have banned the use of cellphones. Parents may find it convenient to keep in touch with their children for a variety of reasons including possible emergencies, but the potential for mischief and disruption of school activity must be kept to a minimum by elementary precaution. Children with expensive instruments may become targets of thieves with an eye for the latest trends and the hype publicising the status symbols of the genre.
The use of cellphones by motorists has also prompted calls for new Road Traffic legislation because drivers may be distracted, concentrating more on their conversations than on driving, and therefore, becoming a threat to other road users. As we understand it, restrictions have been imposed in some American states. In New York State there is a ban on hand-held cellphones; the inference being that devices have to be installed to permit conservation while driving with both hands on the wheel.
Given the state of local traffic congestion, especially in the urban centres, the New York approach to the problem might be more acceptable and indeed easier to monitor by traffic police than an outright ban on the cellphones; both hands on the wheel should be as obvious as the strap for the mandatory seat belt.
In the context of national security, we have no doubt that cellphones, along with increased mobility of wrongdoers, make crime-fighting more challenging, but access to the latest state-of-the-art technology in the most sophisticated jurisdictions should be possible with the new international contacts now available.
As far as the matter of the police declaring a crackdown on the developing trend of cellphone thefts, we think the onus is on the individuals to take the necessary basic precautions to secure their own property. Flaunting the latest trendy flip phone is an invitation to mischief.
