With tight controls, cellphones at school can be useful
A FEW days before the end of the last school term of the year, my primary school teacher would spring-clean her cupboard. Items confiscated from pupils during the year would be returned.
Like a lost pet seeing its owner again, I was thrilled to reunite with one or two matchbox cars that were taken away from me because I dared play with them in class.
Tennis balls, water pistols, yo-yos, packs of playing cards, spinning tops, marbles, comic books, whistles and dolls were some of the items returned to fellow pupils, who had long forgotten about them.
Confiscation of items was a common practice when I was a pupil. It was an easy way of removing a dangerous or distracting item from the classroom.
Our teachers were in loco parentis, which meant they had authority similar to a parent. This is because during school hours, the children were in their care and, therefore, their responsibility.
I recall that at the beginning of each year, parents signed a contract agreeing that their children would abide by the school rules and that the school may take reasonable disciplinary measures should they fail to do so.
When items were confiscated by teachers, or corporal punishment was meted out, we dared not talk about it at home for fear of being severely reprimanded by our parents.
In 1996, corporal punishment was banned in South African schools as part of the nation’s transformation agenda, to reflect the need to move away from a violent and authoritarian past towards an environment respectful of human dignity and bodily integrity.
Nowadays, teachers dare not try to confiscate anything from a pupil unless they are prepared to face the wrath of a threatening parent.
The issue around confiscation came to mind when a teacher recently related to me that when he confiscated a pupil’s cellphone that was being used in the classroom, the child’s father arrived at the school and threatened to beat the living daylights out of the teacher.
The use (or misuse?) of cellphones by pupils is again in the news following the shooting of a Gauteng school principal by a 13-year-old Grade 6 pupil last week after the principal instructed learners to take out their workbooks to study. The principal is recovering from his wounds.
The boy, who was arrested, allegedly planned to attack two other teachers at the school and shoot his ultimate target, the headmaster, in the head.
What is interesting is that friends of the boy said the incident had been planned for a while. Apparently, they had a WhatsApp group where they were communicating and planning the gruesome event, so no one would pick it up.
Cellphones in schools are also hogging headlines in the UK after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government announced new guidelines that cellphones would be prohibited in all of England’s schools.
Schools may implement different measures, like removing phones from the building, picking them up from pupils when they arrive or safely keeping them throughout school hours.
Distraction from lessons being taught is one of the main reasons given why cellphones should not be allowed in schools. With access to the internet, social media and games, it is easy for pupils to get caught up in their phones instead of paying attention to their studies.
Pupils have also been known to have used their phones to cheat during exams.
Another reason cited for cellphones not being allowed in schools is that they can be used for cyberbullying and harassment. Cellphones can also be a security risk in schools when used to plan malicious activities. Some studies suggest that excessive use of smartphones can have negative effects on mental health, including increased anxiety and reduced attention spans.
However, there can be no denying that cellphones have become an integral part of our daily lives, providing us with easy communication, entertainment and access to information.
I am prepared to put myself out on a limb and declare that merely submitting that cellphones can distract pupils or be used for malicious activities at school are not good enough reasons for their prohibition.
Technology is changing the face of education. Personal digital devices like laptops and tablets have found their way from pupils’ homes to their classrooms. Think of how calculators in the schools went from being dismissed as an unnecessary crutch, to becoming an efficient and essential tool in maths.
We have seen presentations evolve from using bulky, noisy overhead slide-projectors to live video-projectors and fun interactive whiteboards.
The widespread adoption of technology is unavoidable. Old-fashioned, traditional schools resistant to change can be detrimental. Thus, using phones in school should be allowed, with strict conditions attached.
Smartphones are so much more than just phones; they are powerful handheld computers with cameras, speakers, access to the internet, educational apps and worldwide communication. They can serve as valuable educational tools for research and staying updated with relevant information.
By integrating phone time into the classroom environment, pupils could be taught digital boundaries that enforce a positive screen time limit. By having designated phone use at school, pupils would learn to live a life where their phone was a tool that they were not dependent on.
Cellphones at school would also provide a means of communication in case of emergencies. Parents and pupils could easily get in touch with each other, which enhances the overall safety of learners. Also, parents could easily stay informed about their child’s progress, events and school activities.
Schools should be the first place in society to implement visionary new methodologies, take risks and challenge well-established notions. New technology must be introduced as an opportunity to enhance the learning experience.
John Dewey, the influential education reformer who lived between 1859 and 1952, believed that human beings learnt through a “hands-on” approach.
He was a pragmatist and advocated that reality must be experienced. Pupils must interact with their environment in order to adapt and learn.
This quote by him was aimed at the many antiquated 20th century schools, yet it remains relevant today: “If we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow.”