scary stuff

so i thought this was kinda funny...basically, for my class of juniors, in a few weeks, they'll be doing a unit on transcendentalism which is a literary movement that preaches, amoung other things, total self-reliance and sacrifice...as a way of hammering the message home, so to speak, my teacher suggested to the class that while they're reading Walden, they try to go without their cellphones for a weekend...a weekend...two days...yeah...when he said this, a few hands immediately shot up and confessed that their parents wouldn't allow them to do such a task because it would be placing them in unneccessary danger...not knowing whether or not these students were kidding, my teacher and i discussed the issue with our principal during prep period...he confirmed that in the past when teachers have insisted their students attempt similar tasks during the weekend, parents have complained that going without cellphones is dangerous and the school has no right asking students to do such a thing for a class project...yeah...scary stuff...i for one didn't have a cellphone until my freshman year of college...no one had them when i was in high school and certainly those rare few who did never brought them to school....of course, kids change and all that stuff, but seriously--parents complaining about not having a cellphone? just add it to my laundry list of societal concerns...peace