Africa Speaks Reasoning Forum

The Editor: The childlike exploration of the birds and the bees used to be as innocent as a young boy slackening his shoelace to fit a piece of broken mirror which he most likely found at home and hid in his book bag to take to school to look up the girls’ skirts and the challenge of any young boy to see if he can see up the teacher’s dress.

Bram! It’s 2005. The mirrors have been replaced with cellular phones which have built-in cameras with still photo and digital video capabilities.

No one is out of range of the macocious eye. Teachers are now vulnerable to the wicked and nasty culture plaguing today’s youth. Pupils are allowed to enter the classrooms with their cell phones; they don’t place them in their shoelaces but take pictures and video record female teachers. The male teachers are also recorded.

The youngsters of today provoke teachers into an argument or a case where a teacher has to be stern with a student or students; the pupils will not record the cause of the incident but they will record the teacher reprimanding the pupils.

How is this described? I would like to know how the schools are addressing this attack on teachers more so how is the MoE going to solve this as it is not as simple as saying, "It’s not the parents and or students who are at fault." Who gives the students the phones? Who advises the students that recording someone in that manner can have legal implications?

What can a teacher do to protect his or her self from this unjust activity? I can assure you that a situation is going to evolve from students recording teachers against their will. Smile you can be on someone’s cellular phone.

Parents today will have to look at this issue. Many children are going to school with cellphones, and while it is useful, this articles points to possible abuses. I wonder how many have given this some thought.

Is it useful or not for children to carry cellphones to school? Please state why?

At first I was strongly against children having cellphones. I felt it gave them too much freedom and more of an opportunity to be cleverly defiant. Now I feel that not only is it convenient but also important for safety in case of an emergency. The fact remains that public pay phones are nearly obsolete and cellphones offer the ability to be accessible at any time. I don't know if it is possible to restict all cellphone use in school but it can be regulated and time restrictions should be enforced. The benefits greatly outweigh the disadvantages.
I do believe that cellphones should not be allowed in classrooms, and once again I don't know how difficult this will be to regulate. Teachers following guidelines should not feel threatened if by chance a student inconspicuously records their behavior. Perhaps it will be a blessing or a testament to their effectiveness.

I think it is a good thing to have access to touch base w/ child, and provides a valuable link should the need for contact arise. However, I do feel they should be monitered and not used while in class. Having access before, after, and even during lunch break seems reasonable.

In my daughter's school...students were reprimanded if caught using cell phones during class, and in some cases the phones were taken for the duration.  Parents were given notice about the usage of cell phones in the begining of the year and told that students must turn them "off" while in class but that they were permitted to bring them.