Many people argue that children should not be allowed to use mobile phones during school hours, while others oppose this idea and hold the opinion that children should be granted access to them. Although completely banning mobile phones may seem like a step in the right direction, I think that placing a permanent restriction on them is completely irrational, and that this privilege should be awarded to students based on accurate assessments of their behavior.
On the one hand, it is suggested that mobile phones cause unnecessary distractions for children which may weaken their concentration during lessons, or may even cause them to lose total focus. For example, many children are addicted to certain video games and may even play them during lessons. Consequently, the student will fall behind peers which will result in sub-optimal performance during formal exams. In addition, the presence of electronic devices in a learning environment may unlock several pathways of misconduct, especially during assessments. To clarify, students may use social media or messaging apps to communicate with peers to aid or receive help ; another alternative would be Bluetooth communication via a wireless device. Anecdotal evidence would be my own school, which tolerates the use of mobile phones, and as a result it experienced 12 cases of cheating last trimester. In this way, the usage of mobile phones during school hours causes issues for both staff and students.
On the other hand, many schools encourage the use of mobile phones to grant students opportunities to research information and independently ameliorate their knowledge. For instance, several teachers allow students to use mobile phones during group projects or while creating informational posters which require details from the web. Another example is that of achieving students being granted permission to utilize their phone to access lessons ahead of their peers. Moreover, cameras embedded in mobile phones may be used to capture memorable events during school hours; pizza parties, student assemblies, dress-up days, and school trips. Accordingly, this motivates students and imbues them with a positive of view of their respective learning environment. Overall, this illustrates how mobile phones may be used in an effective, appropriate and successful manner during school hours.
Overall, implementing extreme approaches with this phenomenon would result in long-term negative consequences such as poor attendance rates. Therefore, it is recommended to constantly monitor the usage of mobile phones and only grant responsible students the privilege of utilizing them during school hours.