News Taffy

In April 2006, New York City Schools implemented a cell phone ban. Students were not allowed to bring cell phones or beepers onto campus unless they had a medical reason to have one with them. As you can imagine, parents and students were up in arms about this decision. Legal action ensued but the schools eventually won the battle. Just about every high school kid you see has a cell phone. So what are they supposed to do with the phone while they are in school? They can’t stash them in their cars. They don’t drive to school in NYC. They commute via public transportation, taxi or on the ten toes express.

With necessity being the mother of invention, it wasn’t long after that an electronic device storage service was born. When I saw this truck for the first time in our neighborhood, I thought it was a new food truck. Upon closer inspection, I figured out they weren’t serving up ice cream but rather collecting phones, beepers, etc in exchange for cash!

This truck belongs to the company, Pure Loyalty Electronic Device Storage. The truck was located about three blocks away from the school. Students line up early to drop their phones off before school starts and then return once class is dismissed for the day to retrieve them. Students pay a dollar a day for the service. According to the company’s website, students can sign up and get a monthly plan for $15.

Mayor Bloomberg recently continued his support of the ban saying that students could access porn on their phones during school hours. He feels the city has a big liability with porn in schools and the city would be sued! Reading, writing, arithmetic and BDSM! That’s probably not going to sit well with parents, even in liberal New York City.

Critics claim the ban makes it more difficult for low income kids who could use the extra money for food and not phone storage. But, if they can’t afford food, why do they have a cell phone? The New York Post reported that school kids across the city spent nearly $4.2 million dollars last year on these services. Pure Loyalty says they collect about 500 to 700 devices a day from students who pay in cash. In the event that schools in your area change their electronic device policy, you may want to keep this business model in the back of your mind! I wish I would have thought of this idea!

You can keep up with D.J.’s adventures in the Big Apple. Follow her on Twitter @mrsdjduckworth and on Facebook. D.J. is also a contributing writer for New York Family magazine and writes for the magazines blog at newyorkfamily.com