Cell Phones In Theaters - Ban or Not To Ban

In today's world it is easier to count those who do not have a cell phone than it is to count those that do. Children in Elementary school and even younger carry cell phones. The latest cell phones give you the ability to: View or take pictures View or capture video Surf the internet Text message Email And most have a variety of other features. The newest discussions however aren't about how great a cell phone, but on the disturbance it brings to others. You can't walk block without passing someone who is talking or yelling into their cell phone. Now in movie theaters, it is becoming more and more annoying as other patrons don't bother to turn off or mute their cell phones. There are two sides of the argument. Should we ban cell phones in theaters or not? Pros: Banning cell phones or using a device to block their signal will mean no more annoying ringing throughout a movie. No one yapping on their phone as if they don't realize that a few hundred other people just paid to watch the movie like they did. The sense of joy that the only sound now besides the movie is the idiot who wants to loudly discuss every scene to the person to them. Cons: Banning or blocking cell phones is a good way to give customers a break from all the ringing and annoyances throughout the movie, however there is the problem of not receiving an important call. A doctor for instance won't get calls from a hospital that needs them to come right away, endangering patients lives. People in business who needs to know what's going on every second of every day with their business, won't get that important call if something is going wrong. What about this one? Someone in your family has been hurt or killed and you won't find that out until you leave the theaters. How are you going to feel knowing that you just spent two hours watching a movie and wasn't able to find out that someone you love needed you? The National Association of Theatre Owners are fed up with the cell phone calls and have reported that some individual theaters have experimented with cell phone bans. Also some studios block phones during unreleased movie screenings to prevent people from taping a movie with the phones. Some professionals have reported that they would stop going to the movies if this ban or block were to take place. If people think that a ban can't happen they should remember that just last year France's government gave theater owners permission to block cell phones. However this is only when you go in to watch the movie itself and not in the lobby and waiting areas. As with anything there will always be the few that ruins it for those who follow the rules and are considerate of others. Unfortunately the good usually has to suffer with the bad. I don't know what the individual States plan to do about the cell phone issue, but until then, everyone needs to remember that they are not the only people on the planet. Put your cell phone on vibrate and stop disturbing the rest of us.