“ … police are coming across a growing number of incidents where cell phones are being used to facilitate crimes.” (www.desecretnews.com)
Schools in Barbados are plagued with many problems. There is a high incidence of violence and downright disregard for the school as an institution of learning. There is a level of defiance for the authority of the school and rules are broken with impunity.
Dress code rules which were endorsed by all schools and the Ministry of Education are flouted across the board. Disruptive behaviour is the norm in most schools and the educational investment is being undermined.
Unpunctuality is rife and many students continue to joyride on the buses instead of developing the life skill of being punctual. Many students go to school daily without the necessary tools to support the day’s timetable and expensive brand name bags nicely strapped on their backs are often empty. The use of illegal substances by school-age children is reaching alarming proportions and the hands of school administrators are tied as there is not much latitude to deal with this challenge of substance abuse.
In spite of the litany of woes captured above, I wish to deal with the issue of cellular phones in our schools. It is true we live in an era in which technology is everywhere and there is a sense in which it is difficult to imagine how we got along without it before. Schools worldwide continue to answer and debate the pros and cons. Questions include whether to embrace or ban cellular phones; whether they are a necessity or a nuisance.
One website even describes mobiles as a poison in our schools. The Ministry of Education is undoubtedly clear in stipulating that cellular phones are not allowed on the school compound though neither schools nor the educational officials is against these devices per se. It is just that they create major headaches for the daily running and functioning of our schools.
An excerpt from the Daily Mail in Britain which captures quite accurately the nature of the challenge which schools face with respect to cellular phones makes the point very well. “Holding out my hand I stare into the surly face of a large, angry teenage girl. ‘Give me the phone,’ I say in as calm a voice as I can muster. Truculently, 15-year-old Lisa glares at me. ‘What phone?’ she asks belligerently as she stuffs it back into her bag. At this point I have a choice. I can demand that she hand the phone over; she will refuse.
I can raise my voice and insist; she’ll swear at me. I can give her a detention that she won’t turn up to. Or I can decide not to waste any more lesson time and focus on the majority of the class who really want to learn and accept that, once again, a rude, disruptive child has scored a victory.” (www.dailymail.co.uk)
The above story is repeated every day in schools globally. In most instances offending students refuse to comply and are often prepared to sacrifice their education by way of suspension rather than comply. According to Paul Korzeniowski of TechNewsWorld, “rather than hound students about cell phone use, some schools officially ban cell phones but take an ‘out-of-sight, out-of-trouble’ approach to enforcement. If students do not make their phone use obvious, teachers and administrators do not bother them”.
Any notion that students should be allowed to bring the phones to school and have them turned off is a big joke. It does not happen as students want to “show and tell what’s on their cell”.
The device presents a serious security risk on the school compound. It sets up the owner/bearer as a target for theft and violent attacks which could be fatal. It creates a major distraction in the classroom. It brings a worrisome type of latest technology competition into the learning environment. The cellular phones are used in cyber bullying and the display of pornographic material. It would be useful for parents to be aware that their child can be charged for having such material on the phones according to the Computer Misuse Act.
If I had to point an accusing finger at anyone, it would be at the parents, many of whom refuse to insist that their child complies with the rules of the school. In many instances, parents have no say in whether their children take phones to school or not. Banning cell phones is a hard sell given the pervasive nature of technology in today’s society but unless we get buy-in from parents as stakeholders, educational gains will swiftly become educational losses.
Matthew Farley is a secondary school principal, chairman of the National Forum on Education and a social commentator. Email [email protected].
