“Mobile Phones Should Be Banned In Schools.” Do You Agree?

“Mobile Phones Should Be Banned In Schools.” Do You Agree?

            In this modern age, mobile phones are as ubiquitous among adults as they are in students.  Not only do they fulfil the simple function of being a simple phone, they are also cameras, organisers and music players all rolled into one.  Given the ready availability of such phones, and their affordability, it is only a matter of time that these gadgets make their way to school.

            Whether mobile phones should be banned in schools has been a subject of much controversy of late.  In other countries, some schools have rejected all calls to allow them in schools and imposed a strict ban.  Other countries, however, have given in to the wave and allowed their students to take their mobile phones to school with conditions attached.

            Should mobile phones be banned in schools?  Should schools take such drastic measures against a device that has become as common as the calculator?

            There are many reasons why mobile phones should never be in school in the first place.  For starters, having a phone in class can pose as a serious distraction to the students.  While schools which have allowed mobile phones in school have been careful to say that usage in class is disallowed, one wonders if the teachers who are teaching are able to enforce the rule to the maximum.  It is a fact that many students are openly flouting this rule by surreptitiously messaging their friends on the sly.  Given that technology is so advanced, all phones can be put on silent mode, and this facilitates the students’ wrongdoing.  A phone in hand is essentially called to mischief.  Thus, it is better to remove the source of temptation that to continually battle with it. 

            Mobile phones also offer an avenue for pupils to flaunt their wealth.  Nowadays, new models of mobile phones are released at an ever increasing speed.  Students and even adults try to lay their hands on the latest and ‘coolest’ mobile phones.  If students are allowed to bring these phones to school, it is inevitable that some comparison will take place.  Those who are less well-off will start feeling left out, and they might be pressured to find ways and means to acquire one for themselves.  Hence, it is best to leave the mobile phone out of the school environment. 

            Mobile phones should also be banned in schools because they can be a magnet for crime.  Those who are unable to acquire the latest phone for themselves might be tempted to steal from their friends.  This will then cause a disruption to the lessons as the school will then have to conduct a search in order to nab the thief.  Other than that, hooligans and gangsters will target those who are more vulnerable and rob them of their phones.  Given the huge possibility for crime, schools should just take a tough stance and ban these phones altogether. 

            Many students will rebel at the thought of banning phones in the schools.  They will argue that they need to keep in contact with their parents.  The fact remains; most of the calls they make are frivolous and trivial calls to friends, not parents.  The need-to-keep-contact-with-parents reason is nothing more than an excuse.

            As such, there is really no case against banning mobile phones in schools.  Schools are institutions of learning, not one where one calls another for asinine reasons. 

                                                                                       (559 words)

1.        Ubiquitous – ever-present

2.      flouting - breaking

3.      surreptitiously - secretly

4.      flaunt – show off

5.      inevitable - expected

6.      vulnerable - weak

7.      stance - stand

8.      frivolous - playful

9.      asinine - silly