Cellphone use big dilemma at school

By Lee Hyo-sik

Cellular phones are one of the biggest distractions in classrooms, the No. 1 enemy teachers want to eliminate. But they are foes teachers find hard, if not impossible, to beat, as their use is backed not only by students but parents as well.

Whether to allow students to bring mobile phones to school and how much freedom should be granted have been a huge dilemma facing primary and secondary schools across the nation.

Complicating the highly touchy issue is the lack of a uniform guideline set by the education authorities. With no clear-cut directives from the authorities, schools have drawn up their own rules but they are still creating conflict among all interested parties.

Most teachers seek to make rules more stringent for students to talk or send text messages on mobile phones, while students want greater freedom in line with recent initiatives to respect students’ rights. Many parents also want their children to go to school with mobile phones.

“Many students use cell phones during class, sending text messages. It’s a big headache. Of course, most teachers want to ban the phones,” said Lim Geun-seok, a teacher at a middle school in Seoul. “Schools have their own rules but they cannot keep students from breaking them.”

He said his school confiscates phones for 10 days if students are caught using them during class.

“Most parents also object to the ban on phones as they need to keep contact with their children after school since most of them go to private learning institutes. It’s really a big dilemma,” Lim said.

Tighter restrictions ditched

In 2009, the Seoul Metropolitan Council attempted to introduce an ordinance to severely restrict the use of mobile phones. But the council had to drop the plan in the face of strong protests from students and liberal-minded teachers.

``The council’s failure to make it a rule to restrict the use of cellular phones in 2009 resulted in the lack of a universal guideline, leaving schools to make their own sets of rules. This is creating confusion and conflicts,’’ said a school inspector at the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, who declined to be named.

Educators said the state human rights agency’s recent recommendations that schools protect students’ basic rights to use cell phones are adding more confusion to the issue.

In response to a petition by a high school student in Seoul, the National Human Rights Commission recently ruled that the school violated students’ human rights by forcing them to use cellular phones only from 4 p.m. to 6:20 p.m.

It recommended that the school allow students access to their mobile devices at all times while at school, except during class hours.

Following the ruling, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education has instructed schools to come forward with their own guidelines on the use of cellular phones in accordance with the recommendation.

``The office is currently holding a series of public hearings on its envisioned ordinance, designed to protect students’ basic human rights. The use of cellular phones is one of many issues being dealt with at the hearings. When we finalize the ordinance in June, we think schools in Seoul will be given a more comprehensive guideline,’’ the inspector said.

Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education echoed the views of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, saying that in principle, students should be allowed to use cellular phones in school.

``Principals and teachers should listen to students before introducing rules on the use of cell phones. It is not right to impose an outright ban on or severely restrict students’ mobile phone use,’’ said Yoo Sun-man, director of the office’s student and parent support division.

He also said an ordinance introduced by Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education in October last year, under the leadership of liberal superintendent Kim Sang-gon, requires schools to permit pupils greater freedom in the use of mobile phones and other school activities.

``As far as I know, there have been no major disputes in schools located in Gyeonggi Province over the matter. I think if teachers and students respect one another, the use of cell phones should not be a problem,’’ Yoo said.

Uniformed guideline

Another teacher at a middle school in northern Seoul said students’ use of cellular phones is certainly one of the main hindrances to giving classes.

``Even if they are told to turn them off during class, some continue to use them. But if schools will more tightly restrict the phone use, students will protest,” she said. “As a means to avoid all these problems, I think education authorities should come out with a clearer, universal guideline and tell schools what to do.”

A student of the same school said she would like to be given more freedom in school so that she can talk or send text messages on mobile phones more often. ``Of course, that should be on condition that students don’t use their phones during class,’’ she said.