Vermont bill would ban cellphones for anyone under 21

[RandySF]

A state senator in Vermont introduced legislation this week that would make it illegal for anyone under the age of 21 to use or possess a cellphone.

The bill, sponsored by state Sen. John Rodgers (D), says cellphones have been linked to loss of life among teenagers, from distracted driving to cyber bullying that results in suicides, the Barre Montpelier Times Argus reported Wednesday.

The bill text says: “The Internet and social media, accessed primarily through cell phones, are used to radicalize and recruit terrorists, fascists, and other extremists. Cell phones have often been used by mass shooters of younger ages for research on previous shootings.”

Violation would result in a misdemeanor that is punishable by a maximum of a year behind bars and a $1,000 fine.

Rodgers, however, said he doesn't expect the measure to become law, adding that he introduced the bill to make a point.

Rodgers argued that the state legislature “seems bent on taking away our Second Amendment rights” and that based on the information in the bill, a cellphone is more dangerous than a gun.

The legislation reportedly says suicide and suicide prevention were discussed repeatedly when the state legislature passed a bill requiring a 24-hour waiting period before purchasing a firearm. Gov. Phil Scott (R) later vetoed the measure.



https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/477655-vermont-bill-would-ban-cellphones-for-anyone-under-21?__twitter_impression=true

[Squinch]

1. It won't pass but I think it's a great idea.

The conflation with guns, though, is imbecilic.

[Coventina]

2. Agree with this 100%

I didn't have a cell phone until my 30s and I somehow survived.

[John Fante]

26. If any post warranted an "OK boomer", it's this one.

Kids in the 1800s survived without electricity and indoor plumbing. Doesn't mean it was an ideal way to go through life.

[NutmegYankee]

28. Absolutely agree!

I think people who make posts like that should be stripped of all modern conveniences and technology and left to live in a cabin on some remote island.

[lame54]

41. The Uni-Boomer

[Withywindle]

57. DUzy!

[Coventina]

36. Not a boomer, I'm GenX. n/t

[Nature Man]

46. Kids in the 1200s were considered middle aged in their 20s

that is, if they made it past infant mortality and plague.

[obamanut2012]

66. Except, that has been proven to not be true

It is an "academic old wives' tale."

They didn't even usually marry until then. People lived very close to what people lived to in say the 1940s, if they made it past childhood diseases. Just like those who were born and grew up to young adulthood before vaccines and antibiotics within our parents' and grandparents' lifetimes.

[obamanut2012]

61. +1

[obamanut2012]

64. 100% this

I'm an older Gen Xer, and my mom (who is an older Boomer, so #notallboomers, I guess) has said many times she wishes we had had cells back when I was in middle school and high school.

For safety reasons when my friends (girls) and I were at the mall, the movies, a park having a picnic, Girl Scouts, etc., she we could easily contact her or my dad, or friends' parents, or 911, etc. The same for all my high school sports and after-school activities.

My Mom is an older Boomer, and she 100% disagrees with this stance, but she is also not one to think her Generation knows what they are doing (ir so many of her fellow Boomers voted for Trump, unlike her and my father).

[phylny]

27. Well, I didn't have a cell phone either when I was a teenager since I was born in 1958

but there were payphones on every corner or in stores. My children got cell phones when they were going to be participating either in after-school sports, driving, or were they were going to be away for me for a period of time.

[xmas74]

45. There are 18 year olds, fresh out of high school in my field.

We use our cells to communicate day-to-day information. I call and move people for coverage, they use their cells for directions for doctor appointments,home visits,etc.

We have college students working here because the pay is better than fast food, they have benefits, they receive tuition reimbursement and it helps with experience in some fields. Without a cell they couldn't work here; it's unfortunately a requirement of the job.

[Ms. Toad]

53. I was much older than that when I got one

BUT - I made ample use of the pay phones that were available all over, and other phones that children these days do not have access to.

Our daughter got a cell phone when she was old enough to drive, because I never want her to be stuck on the road without the means to get assistance.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

3. Dumb idea.

We have a hands off law here where you either gave a Bluetooth system or something else to keep your hands on the wheel sbdc eyes on the road.

Our Chevy Crude has a built in Bluetooth system to receive calls while driving.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

4. This is a bad-faith use of the system.

[TheBlackAdder]

5. This just bolsters Republican talking points about how Dems want to micromanage our lives.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

24. I mean, he WAS trying to make a point about guns...

[Blue_true]

31. That was my first though. What is he thinking. I know there is a problem, but his

"Solution" is a disastrous political move.

[MineralMan]

6. Many bills are introduced. Few become law.

This is not one of the ones that become law.

[Blue_true]

32. It won't become law, but it will become a big repugh talking point.

That person is a prime example of the politically clueless. There are many ways to attack the problems that he listed, he grabbed for the worst of them.

[MineralMan]

33. Not among Republicans who have teenaged children.

Even GOOPers are smart enough to know what the results of that would be.

[Baclava]

7. Parents of 3rd graders use them to track their kids now, this will never pass!

Could be a good South Park episode though, lol

[Coventina]

9. Lazy parenting. n/t

[Baclava]

19. Not really, more a safety concern, being able to contact each other, etc

Pity the poor 6th grader that is the only one in their class without an iphone.

Horrifying to them, im sure

[Coventina]

37. Somehow people have been raising kids for thousands of years without digital surveillance.

Not sure why this one can't.

[DavidDvorkin]

49. And without vaccinations, traffic lights, refrigerated food, ...

Therefore, modern parents can just do without those, too.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

23. Using tools to make things more efficient and useful is not lazy.

[Coventina]

38. Substituting digital surveillance with personal involvement is lazy. n/t

[EllieBC]

47. I was a latchkey kid in the 80s.

I had to call my mom at work (she could be reached, my dad couldn’t at his job) every day when I got home.

It was stressful for my mom. “Lazy” parenting would have saved her a lot of stress and worry 5 days a week.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

48. Doesn't have to be a substitute, of course.

[Mariana]

58. Bullshit. Lazy parents don't care where their kids are.

Plenty of parents have to work to keep bills paid and food in the house, and also want to make sure their kids are where they're supposed to be. Learning to use the modern tools that are available to them is the very opposite of lazy parenting.

[krawhitham]

65. Or maybe people want to be able to find their child after the next school shooting

[Archae]

8. This really is a stupid idea.

What makes "21" the magic number?

People under 21 already can't buy cigs and booze, so now this guy says "NO CELL PHONES, CUZ DEM KIDS DOES BAD STUFF!"

"[H]e introduced the bill to make a point."

Yeah, he sure did.

He's an asshole.

[Wolf Frankula]

63. 21 is the Magic Number Because

it is a magic number. It is the product of the number 3, the number of the trinity, and the number 7, the magic number. It's just superstitious twaddle.

But if we take away their cell phones, let Vermont institute the 'Youth Wage'. People under 21 can be paid a dollar a day. And have the 'I know what I said but' clause. That's where an employer can say on payday to workers under 21, "I know what I said but that was then and this is now. You don't get paid."

That fool needs to be voted out of office.

Wolf

[Stinky The Clown]

10. Stupid bill

[muriel_volestrangler]

11. It's a pretty stupid point he's making, and it's a shame he's a Democrat

"the state legislature “seems bent on taking away our Second Amendment rights” and that based on the information in the bill, a cellphone is more dangerous than a gun"

Guns are designed to kill, and do; a 24 hour waiting period for such a weapon wouldn't have much effect, but it's complete bullshit to call that "taking away our Second Amendment rights".
His bill claims
"The use of cell phones while driving is one of the leading killers of teenagers in the United States. According to the United States Department of Transportation, cell phones are involved in 1.6 million automobile crashes each year, causing half a million injuries and 6,000 deaths. Each day, 11 teenagers die in automobile crashes in this country. "

The DoT actually says "In 2017 alone, 3,166 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers", though doesn't specify if that's all cell phone distraction (as opposed to, say, people working sat navs or music systems). The "11 teenagers die a day" must be from all causes, not just phones, so he is manipulating the statistics. To defend his precious guns.

What a wanker.

[getagrip_already]

12. you can own and carry an unregistered gun at 18 in vt without a permjit.....

But you can't possess a cellphone?

That's f'd up.

[ismnotwasm]

13. Not only Dumb

But mind bogglingly short sighted

[irisblue]

14. Is he also legally requiring pay phones return in mass?

What about ppl like the 19 yr old who delivers food & groceries?

This is foolish IMO. Cellphones are a fact of life.

[malthaussen]

15. Proving the GOP is not the only party with idiots. n/t

[packman]

16. I remember when 21 was the magic age for everything

smoking, drinking, voting - but an 18 yr. old could sign up for the military or even be drafted. All B.S., never will happen. If he is that concerned about cell phones leading to car deaths, make the legal age to drive 21.

[dalton99a]

17. Yeah, people under 21 don't need to have a job or go to college

Stupid meaningless gesture

[Dennis Donovan]

18. Car wrecks in general kill teens as much. Does the driver's license age need to go to 21?

[Boomerproud]

20. Say goodbye to your political career jerk.

Go get a job at a "think tank".

[bullwinkle428]

21. Perhaps he can mandate a re-establishment of the buggy whip industry while he's at it!

[Binkie The Clown]

22. Terrible idea.

Kids walking home from school get approached by some shady character and have no way to call home for help? Really?

Kids at the mall waiting for one of the parents to pick them up, but the parent forgot, so they have no way to call another parent for a ride? Are you kidding me?

Teen is driving home from his job at the burger joint and has car trouble, but can't call dad to come and help? Unbelievable!

Kid taking a walk with his dad when the dad falls over with a heart attack, or trips and is knocked unconscious on the sidewalk, and the kid can't call 911 because it's illegal for him to use a cell phone? Insane!

We wonder why the right ridicules "liberals" all the time? It's because at times some liberals go to ridiculous extremes and make complete fools of themselves. This is such a time.

Please, lets not give the right more ammunition to laugh at us.

[smirkymonkey]

34. +1000

[underpants]

51. I agree. We'd be freaked out if our daughter didn't have a phone.

We put in a Blink system when she was too old for day care and didn't have a phone. We knew she was home.

[WestLosAngelesGal]

25. Not a viable idea and one reason is...

... I have not seen a payphone for years.

[lunatica]

40. That's so true! They don't exist anymore.

Superman just says, “I can’t even!”

[BuffaloJackalope]

29. Ban cell phones but not guns. GREAT idea. /s

[Blue_true]

30. That is going too far.

I would prefer to educate kids in school about the dangers and benefits of cellphones.

[ecstatic]

35. Good luck. I think 8 or 9 is the standard age for getting

a phone these days. I don't necessarily agree with that. I don't think it's safe for kids to be exposed to that level of radiation, not to mention, most parents are clueless about how to set up effective parental controls. The lack of oversight means kids are free to explore and stumble upon the darkest corners of the internet.

[NutmegYankee]

42. What radiation?

Radio waves? The same stuff blasting around you right now for TVs, Stereos, wireless phones, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc. Don't freak out but did you know that right now your probably looking at radiation in the hundreds of terahertz. Like, OMG, it's entering your eyes!

[obamanut2012]

67. And BOOM! the woo science radiation "fact" rears its head

What you stated as fact is a woo science anti vaxxer demographic claim. It is not true.

[ecstatic]

68. Link?

I admit, I haven't put a lot of time and effort into researching this topic. For me, it seems like a common sense issue, but based on the militant responses in defense of young children handling phones all day, I guess not.

Do you have a link to a study that shows that it's 100% safe for growing bodies? I'll wait, and here's a great starting point: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/?term=Radiation+mobile+phones

[lunatica]

39. Parents of teenagers would disagree with this.

And that’s just on first purview of this ridiculous bill. It’s not only ridiculous but it’s also mind bogglingly idiotic on so many levels!

[hunter]

43. In our extended family we were trying to hold out on cell phones until high school

By the time our youngest was in middle school it was true, just as they'd always complained, most of their friends *really did* have cell phones.

We gave our kids cell phones with limited texts and minutes and they hated that, but they mostly lived within their budget. The younger kids in our family can't even imagine that.

When I was a kid our family had one phone in the kitchen, and there was zero privacy.

On one college break I was home visiting, the kitchen was empty, so I decided to call my girlfriend... within seconds it seemed there were half a dozen people in the kitchen having some sudden business there, including my grandma who was living with my parents at the time.

My wife is the only girlfriend I ever brought home to my parents. My own kids were never so shy.

[Mariana]

59. We had phones in several rooms in the house

but only because my dad worked for the phone company, and got the extra phones (on the same line) for free. When i was in high school, most of my friends and I used CB radios.

[retread]

44. Does the bill provide for treatment of withdrawal symptoms? n/t

[CentralMass]

52. Good luck with that one.

[Ms. Toad]

54. Guess kids with Type 1 Diabetes will have to monitor themselves the old-fashioned way.

Maybe we can even bring back pee-sticks.

I hear kidney transplants are all the rage. (A college friend just died - and all of my younger cousins with T1 diabetes have died. I only have one peer my age with T1 diabetes who is still alive - my guess is that this generation's T1 diabetics will live a decade or two longer because of the ability for continuous glucose monitoring and correction a capability that is available because of cell phones.)

[ooky]

56. He said he probably wouldn't vote for his own bill.

Says all anyone needs to know about this stupid bill.

[SlogginThroughIt]

60. So tired of this shit.

You didn’t have a cell phone when you were a kid when nobody else had cell phones? Wow!!!!

Look we aren’t putting the genie back in the bottle. Whether you like it or not younger people’s world is much different than yours was when you were that age. Likely it is different than yours is right now.

I am sorry but I like knowing where my kid is. I like my kid being able to call me for help. I like that my kid knows how to use technology and I fully understand it is my role as a parent to help them to understand how to use it, what is appropriate and how to be responsible. My eldest has had an ipad since she was 7. She has had an iphone since she was 9 so that she could keep in touch with her Dad who is on the road a lot and so that she could keep in touch with her father estranged grandparents. Because of her having GPS on her with her phone we have been able to allow her more freedom to explore our neighborhood. And now that she is a 13 yr old having crossed over puberty you can bet your ass my wife and I make sure she has her phone on her at ALL TIMES when she is out of the house. She is very active in team sports, clubs, and friend groups and that means she is not always under parental supervision -WHICH IS REALLY GOOD FOR HER. Granted this is anecdotal but because she has been able have more independence with the ability to contact us if needed, she has been much more self sufficient. This kid has the confidence to go out in the world. For example, she goes out on trail in the boundary waters for weeks at a time with counselors in a small pack of 6-8 in the group total.

Did having an Iphone create this alone? Of course not but instead if blaming technology or fearing it, people need to understand that like it or not it IS part of their world and the sooner we teach them how to use it responsibly the better equipped they are for using what is a basic tool in THEIR lives. If we keep treating everything the same way we do with alcohol then we can expect to keep having the same problems with those things that we have with alcohol.

[obamanut2012]

62. I'm an older Gen Xer, and my mom has said she wished we have cellphones then

For safety reasons when my friends (girls) and I were at the mall, the movies, a park having a picnic, Girl Scouts, etc., she we could easily contact her or my dad, or friends' parents, or 911, etc. The same for all my high school sports and after-school activities.

My Mom is an older Boomer, and she 100% disagrees with this stance.

edit: 21???????? So, people who can legally marry and enlist, who are in college, who are working full-time, aren't allowed to own a cell??????

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

69. I'm sure that's going nowhere