Advantage and disadvantage allowing mobile phones to be brought to schoolQuote for SUCCESS >>> LUCK IS FOR THOSE WHO KEEP TRYING !!!!

In more recent times, the same anxiety greeted the advent of computers, especially the internet. Today, the internet has become an essential tool and we cannot imagine a life without it. Like the computer, the mobile phone has many advantages, while an abuse of it can have disastrous results. Mobile phones are useful tools of communication. Parents and children can keep in touch with each other and any last minute change of plans can be conveyed easily without any trouble either party. Some children however, cite this as loss of privacy as parents will have 24 hours access to their children.Parents say mobile phone is more than a convenience – it is an essential item that can function as a tracker device. With it they can monitor their children and check o their whereabouts via satellite. Thus, wherever they are, parent can ensure the safety of their children and avoid incidents like kidnapping, rape and other such crimes.

Education Ministry officials, school authorities and many parents believe that allowing mobile phones in schools would only widen the disparity between the haves and the have-nots among students. Mobile phone come in variety of shapes, colours and functions: from generic ones to highly sophisticated smartphones. Not every child in school comes from middle or upper class families that can afford to buy each child mobile phones. The self-esteem of children who do not own a mobile phone or who possess a basic one will be affected.

Low self-esteem among students would causes rift among children. Cliques, jealousy and rivalry would result. This unhealthy situation should not be nurtured in a school. Instead, the school environment should promote equal opportunities and equal treatment.

Another reason for the strong outcry against students to bring mobile phones to school is the distraction is poses. SMS text, games and ringing tones are some of the distractors that take the students’ attention away from the lesson. Children, being children, will not a able to resist the temptation of answering calls and sending

messages when they should be listening to the teacher or completing their written work. Even if the school authorities ban the use of mobile phones during classes, the games available on the phone is something the students would resort to classes to overcome boredom.

Apart from diverting students’ attention, the mobile phone can be threaten the validity of school examinations. Students may cheat during examination via text message. Information or answers can be passed from one student to the next while examiners may be totally oblivious of the heating that happens.

Finally, even adults find it hard to exercise social etiquette in the use of mobile phones, therefore children cannot be expected to do any better. Despite explicit message in movie theaters, at meetings and at formal meetings, we still hear phones ringing away. School administrator and discipline teachers would find it difficult to effectively prohibit students from using their phones during lessons.If the Ministry of Education lifts ban on mobile phones, schools may come up with new rules or guidelines to control the use of the mobile phone. Inevitably, teachers will be burdened with the task of monitoring ile phone use and misuse of the mobile phone. All this is additional stress for teachers who are already loaded with heavy responsibility.

In short, undeniable mobile phones bring lot of conveniences. However, allowing young students to bring mobile phones is still unnecessary. For them, mobile phones are just mainly entertainment and showing-off tools. Perhaps authorities can make a slight change on the rule, for example merely allowing students of secondary schools to bring mobile phones, instead of including the primary schools students.

Mobile phones should be allowed in schools. Do you agree?- by Lee Hui YeeSMJK Kwang Hua

Kangar, Perlis

Mobile phones are one of the great inventions and high technology items in this modern era. They have become some of the most indispensable objects in our daily life as technology becomes more and more advanced. Nowadays, most people from teenagers to the elderly have personal mobile phones of their own. Many schools limit or restrict the use of mobile phones. However, there are students who ignore the rules and continue to bring along their mobile phones to school despite the restriction. In my opinion, mobile phones should not be allowed in schools. What are the factors then?

First, mobile phones will bring about distractions to students. In the past, bored student generally entertained themselves with doodling or whispering about anything that came to mind. Today, students relieve boredom with the ubiquitous mobile phones. Students engrossed in the mobile phones are unable to pay attention in class. For example, they are distracted when their friends send them text messages and they attempt to reply under their desks. Other than that, they can also play games, browse the Internet, check and update their Facebook pages and so on. In other words, they usually use the mobile phones for non-educational purposes during the class. This can hardly help them perform better academically. In fact, this can bring forth adverse effects on their performance.

Another reason why mobile phones should be prohibited in schools is because students are able to cheat during examinations using those electronic gadgets. They do so by sending to each other text messages with answers to the questions. They can also store their notes and relevant information on their phones and look at them secretly during tests. It is also possible for them to cheat by using search engines

such as Google, Yahoo, Bing, et cetera to search for the information that they want. Students always find ways to cheat during examinations as the tools they have are getting more and more powerful today. Since the digital world is hard to track, students are less likely to face the consequences of their actions. They always assume that they will not get caught.

Furthermore, mobile phones can easily be lost or stolen in schools. This is one of the reasons why they are forbidden. If students are allowed to bring mobile phones to school, they do so at their own risk. The schools accept no responsibility for damage or loss to mobile phones in school.

Apart from that, mobile phone addiction is a major drawback. Students addicted to mobile phones cannot do without using them, even when they are in class. If the schools permit them to use mobile phones at school, their addiction will very likely worsen. They surf inappropriate websites, post pictures or videos during class. Their undesirable actions will certainly influence or affect other students.

In a nutshell, mobile phones should be banned and not allowed in school. The disadvantages of allowing them in schools far outweighs the advantages. It is the students' responsibility to study hard and be attentive when teacher is teaching. Students should aim for good results in examinations so as to better prepare themselves for their future. Since mobile phones prevent them from doing so and distracts them when they are in class, I do not agree that mobile phones should be allowed in schools.