Businesses Charging NYC Students To Store Their Cell Phones
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - New York City public schools don't allow students to have cell phones, so the students are temporarily ditching them before they enter the building.
WCBS 880's Marla Diamond On The Story
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But it costs them, and it's happening at schools with metal detectors where the students can least afford it, as WCBS 880's Marla Diamond reported.
Some students are paying $1 a day at convenience stores or trucks to store the devices while they're in class.
A report in the New York Post said businesses are making $4.2 million a year providing the service.
Outside Washington Irving High School in Manhattan, student Atea Ramsurret said it's a racket.
"$5 a week. That's a whole $5 just being wasted," she told Diamond. "But I guess that's what you have to do since our school doesn't let us bring our phones in."
She believes the school can store them for free, but Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that would be a violation of Department of Education policy.
"My suggestion is leave your cell phone at home," Bloomberg told reporters.
Many students said that's a tall order when they travel so far for school and need to be in touch with their parents.
Should New York City public schools set up a system to store students' cell phones for free while class is in session? Sound off in the comments section below.
