The Nation - News from July 6, 1988

Responding to growing complaints from school principals, Michigan Gov. James J. Blanchard signed into law a bill barring students from wearing beepers to school in a bid to stamp out drug dealing. The law also bans students from using mobile telephones or other communications devices at school. Local school boards will decide and enforce penalties. Scott Banas, administrative assistant to Westland Sen. William Faust, the bill’s sponsor, said principals complained that students were wearing pocket pagers to receive alerts from drug dealers. He said the legislation allows school boards to make exceptions to the beeper ban.