Kids, Schools, Towers, and Killers

As a founding partner of Inside Towers, a tower owner, and most importantly a parent of an only child, I feel compelled to state my position on the matter of cell towers located very near schools.  I know we’ve covered this issue in Inside Towers in several stories since our launch.  Here is my opinion:  I would like a multi-company carrier tower located on or very near every school my daughter attends.  Here’s why:  In the first seconds and minutes when the unthinkable events like Columbine or Sandy Hook commence, horrified students, teachers and administrators certainly seek shelter inside the deepest, most interior portions of the structures, often shielding themselves behind metal or concrete surfaces.  I’m guessing there’s not a desk phone handy.  We know that proximity to a cell service site (tower for now) is best way to assure building penetration.  I’m supportive of whatever means assures “three bars” deep inside the schools where kids and adults are trying to stay out of harm’s way and alive.  While there’s much debate about RF exposure and children, I’m sure there’s a higher RF level from the phone next to my daughter’s head than from a multi-carrier tower nearby.  The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun in a school is with an ability to get help fast.  A dropped call may be another dropped child.

–Eddie Esserman