So at the start of this week, the school announced the banning of all devices during breaks, lesson times, and tutor times (after 7:30 AM) unless with express permission from a teacher. It immediately became a controversial topic, so I decided to collect the opinions of my peers.
In summary, the goals of the ban are as follows:
Reduce distractions during class time
Encourage conversation in place of screen time
Discourage cyberbullying attacks
Personally, I find the ban may not be as big of a deal as some might think it is, but slightly annoying nonetheless. As far as I was aware, phones were already disallowed in most cases anyway and I feel this is more of a reiteration. The device ban would set this rule in stone.
After conducting a small anonymous survey, I have some statistics to show. Most students responded neutrally to the question: “Do you think [the phone ban] is necessary?” A few had more definitive opinions, generally leaning toward the “no” side, but the sample size is too small to draw any consequential conclusions. As for rating the impact of the move, we see a more divided opinion with some 50% against, 28.6% for and 21.4% neutral. As I mentioned earlier, the controversy is still very far from solved and both sides have their reasons.
Firstly, let’s talk about the social impact of the phone ban. From the responses I’ve read, I’d say that the school was successful in their attempt to remove phones and encourage conversation. This is most notable during tutor times. However, as one respondent pointed out, many people of our generation have shared interests over their phones. Most choose to indulge themselves in games, such as Wordle, to pass the time. Without said shared interests to converse about, it could be possible that these topics of conversation fade out. I can relate to this, as I often spend time staring off into the distance instead of trying to stir conversation.
Next, we’ll discuss the occasional necessity of device usage. There can be a variety of reasons why we need to use our phones, especially with learning at school becoming more and more digitized. Resources for revision, homework assigned online, contacting teachers/students regarding lost property, meeting details or club sign-ups are all things that we have probably experienced over the past two years of ‘digitized learning’. Many students find it annoying, but they usually belong to the minority. I approached Ms. Sha for a comment, and she suggested asking a teacher for permission before use.
Lastly, I’ll touch on phones for the purpose of R&R. During tutor times, rules differ from tutor to tutor but the general consensus, even before the ban, was that the use of mobile devices outside of tutor time was considered rule-breaking. However, this did not stop some students from bending the rules and using mobile devices from 7:30 AM onwards. During my talk with Ms. Sha, she clarified that phones are allowed until 7:30am in all cases, and banned thereafter (unless you have permission, of course).
I’ve done my best to collate my findings in this article. But, as I said, my sample size wasn’t the largest. Feel free to post your thoughts and opinions about the device ban in the comments section below.
Collector: Zi Ler
Author: Zi Ler
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