Well, this explains a lot. Doesn't it?

At GTCO-ATL, we are not saying that technology is bad.  We are not saying that it is wrong.  We just think that if it emits a form of radiation with unknown consequences, we should hold off on giving it to children everywhere until it can be proven to be harmless. 

 

With that said, the cell towers at DeKalb schools will likely begin construction very soon despite the vocal and continous protests of our residents and parents from one end of the county to the other.  Multiple protest groups have popped up, but none appear to be making much headway. 

 

There's obviously more to these cell towers than what we are being told because too many people are either keeping quiet, telling conflicting stories, spouting off information direct from industry lobbyists that is incorrect or simply sitting back with a "just wait, you'll see" sort of attitude.

 

So, what can it be?  Perhaps the cameras all over the Interstate and on our highways that have popped up on light pole and traffic lights have something to do with it?  Perhaps the decline in the economy has not given the cell carriers enough customers for their 4G technology to allow them to continue their expansion plans, so they needed a fresh crop of customers - children.  Sort of reminds you of the way cigerettes were marketed, doesn't it?  "Entice the children; they don't know any better and by the time they figure us out, they'll already be hooked," they likely said to themselves.

 

So, when T-mobile was coming to our schools last year, we protested in one way by saying, "Wait, they are supposed to be merging with ATT by the end of the year!  Why would you sign a 30-year deal with a company that has admitted it doesn't want to remain in the U.S. and is going to be non-existant by the end of the year?"  We got no response.

 

Paul Womack said, "This was done for the coverage, not the money," as he told us about his poor cell reception with ATT.  We thought, "But these are T-mobile towers so they won't help you with that."  And when the deal with ATT didn't go through, we thought, "Good!  Now T-mobile won't need the towers, right?" But then we learned that a condition of their dropping the bid to merge, ATT got a sweet deal on the infrastructure rights from T-mobile.  Essentially, T-mobile towers ARE ATT towers.  ATT puts them up (or uses sub contractors), they maintain them and they provide space for T-mobile who still wants an easy exit plan. 

 

So, the question we posed almost a year ago, "Why does T-mobile want to put Cell Towers at our schools?" on the Tucker Patch should be updated today to question, "Why does ATT want to put cell towers at our schools?"  We can guess the usual answers like, "profit," "improve their coverage," etc., but is that enough to get so many levels of the government to protect them over the outcry of residents?  There must be something more to this story.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that cell phones and wireless technology were on the list of items for SPLOST IV and a lot of it sounded a little strange, like video conferencing technology for elementary schools?  Really?  Can't teachers just try to teach them to read and write first? 

 

So, a little surfing the web and we found a pretty simple explanation.  ATT is investing big time in its products being marketed to schools.  Makes sense, right?  Where else can you get a fresh crop of future customers and put your products right in their hands and convince their parents that it will be good for them?  Schools, of course. 

 

For the school systems, the ones in particular who like to keep giving higher and higher salaries to a lot of people who work in the administrative office, they might be thinking, "Hmmm... how else can we take more money away from the classroom to bring to our palace?"  Or, "How else can we avoid those annoying in-person meetings the parents and teachers keep insisting upon?" 

Of course, a virtual learning environment! (And, sure enough, guess what bill is coming up through the state Senate this week:  SB 289, required online learning for 9th grade and above.   

Yes, that's right.  Let's take as much of the human element as possible out of teaching.  Don't worry about that thing the pediatricians keep telling you about too much TV being bad for them.  This time it is going to be different.  This is "interactive."  It's practically like the real thing, except cheaper (Not for the taxpayer).  You can have bigger classrooms and get rid of more teachers!  And, you can even avoid having to meet with anyone in person because everything can be done from the Palace!

Government employees will love it because we can let them use the infrastructure for their own purposes to make money, too.  They can put up cameras to catch people speeding or running red lights so they can send out more tickets.  They can even cut back the number of police officers because you just need a few to sit at the station and keep their eyes on the monitors all night until something happens.  What a great deal!

So, if you are like us at GTCO-ATL, you are frustrated with being left out of the process.  All we can do is speculate (which is all we are doing).  We don't claim to have the answers, but the answers must be out there.  And, as we have said all along, if it is something that is supposed to be good for us, then why aren't they telling us?  What are they hiding?  How can they get away with this? 

Do our teachers know they are going to be phased out?  Well, the ones that haven't already been phased out, that is.  Why isn't the teacher's union more on top of this cell tower issue?  Is it because they are fighting the fact that the school board is trying to cut their pensions? Well these towers might be the beginning of cutting a lot more than pensions!!  Is anyone paying attention?  Is anyone doing anything about this? 

Think about it.  In the meantime, read these exerpts from ATT's "Learning on the Go" webpage:

• To some, a cellphone in the classroom is a distraction and should not be allowed. To others, a cellphone in the classroom opens up a whole new world of possibilities to advance instruction and drive learning outcomes.

• The ATT Learning On The Go handbook focuses on those who are embracing this technology. Real-life examples of innovative programs are profiled, particularly smart-phones as an instruction and collaboration tool. The reader will see how this technology is being used today to engage digital natives, promote customized instruction, and differentiate the school to attract the best and brightest students.

• Trends and statistics related to mobility and education will be provided, showing the relevance and projected success mobile devices can have in the classroom. With the use of mobile devices on the rise (39 percent of Americans ages 18 to 34 own just a cell phone, according to a 2009 Mediamark Research and Intelligence survey), harnessing this technology for use in education can benefit students, teachers, faculty and staff.

• When it comes to cellphones in the classroom, some educators have changed their thoughts and are now changing their worlds.

 

Really?  Do products really educate?  Or is it the content that counts?  Do "educators" really feel this way, or is it the "administrators" of education that like to see the green that will come along with helping a company known for creating monopolies right into the front door of our education system, ripe for a takeover of mammoth proportions? 

 

As the current stakeholders in education, the taxpayers, should we be concerned?  Because from the way things have been going, it looks like a new investor is coming in (via the cell tower financial contributions) and they may not be ready to leave any time soon (thanks to the 30-year contracts).  Are we so sure the profit objectives will align with educational goals?  Or is ATT trying to train our children to be the "working class" of their monopoly in the future?

We are not saying whether we think virtual learning is good or bad.  We are just saying that the people should have at least a little bit of a say in all of this stuff, shouldn't they?  Even those without children who pay taxes should be a little worried when cell towers start going up right next to homes and cameras are added to school buildings and busses.  The children of today will be deciding whether or not Medicare benefits will be continued for us when we are elderly and cannot send them to their rooms.  They will be deciding whether or not nursing homes are built to sufficient health codes or building standards.  Do we really want to raise a generation of idiots?  Or worse than that, a generation of premature cancer victims to bankrupt healthcare and give even more money to the drug companies than we do already.

The consequences may be more than we realize now, but there will be consequences.  There always are.  You can bank on the fact that the ones who are doing this business in secret will be long gone before anyone can hold them accountable for their actions.  But, we will all have the memories of this time in history.  The time when we saw the cell phone companies coming, we knew they were taking aim at our schools and we didn't do anything about it.