Restrict, not ban kids’ use of smartphones
ZHAO ZHIZHONG, a professor of geography at Hainan Normal University, recently proposed to amend the law and forbid pupils below the age of 16 to use smartphones. Beijing Youth Daily comments:
With the prosperity of the economy, many families choose to buy a smartphone for their children at school to search for materials and assist in studying. However, when children get their smartphones, the situation is different.
In and out of class, the pupils have smartphones in their hands. While walking, they hold them in their hands. While enjoying their lunch, they hold them in their hands. Even on the bed before sleeping, they hold one in their hands.
It seems the heavy addiction to smartphones is affecting ever more pupils at young ages. They, just like their parents, have become enslaved by smartphones.
The addiction to smartphones, which is popular among pupils, is a problem that affects them in many aspects. It distracts them from their academic studies and prevents them from talking with each other.
That’s why quite many people agree to limit the use of smartphones among pupils. That’s also why Zhao’s proposal got quite a wide welcome among the public.
However, it remains doubtful whether a simple ban is proper, because smartphones, if used well, do play a key role in helping the pupils get wider access to the outside world and broaden their horizon. Besides, the school might not have the power to forbid pupils from using their own properties that do not pose harm to others.
There are certain countries that limit pupils from using smartphones in class but allow them to use them after it. The actual effect remains to be seen, but that can offer some food for thought.
For example, the legislature can amend the law so as to forbid the use of smartphones in the classroom. Perhaps a child mode for smartphones can also be introduced so that children can only use them for a certain amount of time every day. A ban can be considered, but it should be flexible and avoid being too rigid.
That President Xi Jinping met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi four times last year indicates relations with India are not as bad as some people think.
The Modi government is adjusting its foreign policies this year as it intends to keep a stable external environment so as to avoid possible diplomatic skirmishes from escalating into big issues ahead of this year’s election. Thus, it is showing more tolerance toward its neighbors, including China, than before.
But that is different from being intent on mending the lack of mutual trust with Beijing, which has remained the main obstacle hindering the world’s two largest developing countries from improving their relations.
New Delhi has remained suspicious about the Belt and Road Initiative, which is not difficult to understand, since many projects in South Asia are located in India’s neighbors, New Delhi’s backyard, some in Pakistan, its regional foe, and some in a disputed region.
Geopolitics is something the initiative cannot steer clear of. China is well prepared for such predictable resistance and remains attentive to India’s concerns. Although India does not participate in such multi-party projects as China-India-Nepal and Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar economic corridors, relevant projects have unfolded as planned without its endorsement because of local people’s practical needs, which India fully understands as well.
China is now moving from being a regional power to a global power. Its influence has begun to extend beyond East Asia. However, India is obviously still a regional power. India needs the United States to help counterweigh China’s rising influence in the region, and vice versa. In return the US pays due respect to India’s overlord status in the Indian Ocean, where in fact Washington has much stronger political, economic and military influence than New Delhi.
However, the door remains open for India to participate in the Belt and Road Initiative.