What is your stance on moves by some schools to bar children from bringing cell phones to school?

Monday 29th June, 04:00 AM JST

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TokyoHustla at 01:21 PM JST - 29th June

Make is so that you have to be 18 to own one, and even then have to demonstrate that you earn enough money to pay for the bills yourself. Kids have no need for them.
jackfish at 01:41 PM JST - 29th June

Excellent. How did we get along all those previous millennia without kids having cell phones? Cell phones are extremely distracting even to adults, so imagine how difficult it would be to manage 20 cell phone wielding kids in a classroom.
jojo_in_japan at 02:50 PM JST - 29th June

Docomo have a mobile phone specifically aimed at kids and their safety. The phone has a function to allows the parents to cut email and program the phone so that it can only dial pre-set numbers.
dammit at 04:14 PM JST - 29th June

Cleo's got it pretty much right, although Oneforall certainly has a point. Wasn't there a kid in Korea who filmed his teacher beating his classmates? Illegally I might add, (the teacher beating the kids, not the boy videoing it.) Without the evidence the teacher would still be doing it.

I can envisage a child recording voice and/or video of a teacher suggesting something inappropriate. It's a great way to find out if your parents think you should do the new, exclusive, after school club.

Personally I think they shouldn't be allowed to use phones in school. But if there's some sort of block and a nutter gets in the classroom and holds them hostage, how will they raise the alarm?

Definitely it's a difficult call to make, but if only us humans had a bit of self control there'd be no need to ban anything.
terebiko at 05:25 PM JST - 29th June

Many schools have rules against using phones during class time. Doesn't stop all of the students though. So, arrive at school, put your phone in your phone locker. You can have access at lunch time, and finally pick it up on your way to club or home. Total ban is a bad idea. Can also be used for a class or two on proper use, manners, etc. Make the rule, and stick to it. Give the teachers and/or school the power to enforce it, and not let some parents insist their child must have their phone all day. If parents are worried about the gps in the phone in case their child is abducted, tell them to implant a gps chip under their child's skin. I believe a company in Mexico is doing a booming business doing just that and offering a tracking service. The gps in the phone will only help them find the phone.
stirfry at 05:40 PM JST - 29th June

Teach the kid a bit of common sense

haha thats the funniest thing i've read in years
rajakumar at 05:59 PM JST - 29th June

Just let them bring cell phones,but they should ban them,from keeping the cell phone on,during classes,when teachers need to concentrate on teaching.
timorborder at 09:49 PM JST - 29th June

Worrying from a safety perspective. Rather than banning phones, kids should be educated how to use them. Also like Cleo's idea of cut-down models for kids with no Internet access.

Moreover, with regard to banning phones, if something were to happen to a child for want of a phone, I would love to see the parents of the child sue these pontificating gits who propose a blanket ban into the poor house
Michiko3 at 10:51 PM JST - 29th June

We did not have cell phones in schools back when, so why do they need them now? Everybody got along just fine with out them.
Okinawamike at 08:08 AM JST - 30th June

Yes Michiko, but reading by candle light and writing on a slate? Times have changed.
roninroshi at 10:25 AM JST - 30th June

A great idea...this should happen in the US as well...
mrsynik at 10:34 AM JST - 30th June

What a great idea. Kids dont need cellphones. My kids wont be getting them until they are working and can pay their own bills.
alargo at 10:40 AM JST - 30th June

Well, we could ban bullying or ban cell phones. Which one I wonder?

How can a culture in which communication is a foreign language be so obsessed with telephones? Because true love is found on the other end of the telephone line from where you don't have to deal with the reality of...

Fake! Fake! Fake!

By the by...Schools starting collecting phones in boxes a long time ago, so this "ban" is nothing more than window dressing anyway.
IfeelImust at 07:26 PM JST - 30th June

When I was at school they banned ball pens and calculators, now it's cell phones. When will the teachers learn? Their students are the potential innovators of the future, so why do they resist the future they invest their time in?
LIBERTAS at 01:55 AM JST - 1st July

In my school cell-phones must be switched off and be invisible while the student is on the premises and classes are in session. S/he is permitted to check messages and make short calls during a lunch break, if necessary and with permission in a specific "call area." The student forfeits the phone if it rings or chirps in class, and it is not returned. Ever. The parents agree to these terms in advance, so there's no quibbling. We had a fire and a student called the FD using her own phone, so obviously, that was permitted judicious use. They're not banned. Only their use is controlled. Nobody says they're bad, we just need a bit of common sense in how they're used. Common sense, unfortunately, is not that common.