Centre number: PK243

Candidate number: 0070

Candidate Name: Khadija Waqar Maken

Topic4: Digital World

Question: Should students be allowed to bring mobile phones to school in the 21st century?

Introduction: Mobile phones are essential in today’s developing advanced world with new technology. Some think they're a waste of time and money, especially for young people because of their excessive use of mobiles, while others see them as valuable learning tools. However, there's a debate about whether they should be allowed in schools. Some argue that they enhance learning, while others worry they'll cause distractions. So, the question of whether mobile phones belong in schools sparks a lot of discussion, as in today’s growing population with new technology being invented day by day mobile phones are not only a use for learning but also a tool for the safety of teachers and students. In today’s digital world, allowing students to possess cellphones in schools can be a reasonable choice if used responsibly.

Against

Allowing cellphones or any other digital devices to school can cause distraction in a way as students find a way to text and use their phones during lectures conducting in the classroom, this results in a way that students are only physically present during classroom lectures and are mentally not, as most of the time they are on their mobiles.

studies and following a goal is being blocked by the call phones and their efforts to achieve anything are like being crushed ..Cell phones can also be seen as a means employed by students to cheat during examination as nowadays students have found new ways to sneak their phones into the examination halls, they hide it in their pockets or their laps and even in a open zip of their backpack, this can lead to serious consequences and cause unnecessary panic if they get caught. For all these reasons that parents and students say that, cellphones should be allowed incase of emergencies are just giving an excu se for letting the children bring them to school, as even if there was an emergency like the students getting sick or something happens in that case there are phones present in schools and there is no reason or excuse that students should bring their phones to school. Another major consequence of bringing cell phones to school is that students can result in doing after school gang activities, like cyberbullying and prank calling people just for fun, which is not only unacceptable but also a waste of time of theirs and other people. Moreover, a harm of allowing students to bring cellphones to school is that it can be a distraction for students, and can affect their studies. It can also affect children's behavior with their fellow classmates. This can ruin the environment of the school and there is no reason or excuse that students should bring their phones to school. Principal, teachers and parents should be aware that the student is bringing a cellphone to class and in case of mis use the student should get a punishment which so next time before the student misuses the phone he/she would know that what will happen and what will be the consequences for it. Another thing which schools should do is that they should instead of writing notes on the white/black board is that they should display slides to explain the lesson to the class, this way students would be interested in the lecture and won’t be distracted to something else in this case their mobile phones.

Favor

'These are modern means of communication and the students should be encouraged to learn modern technologies. The university students are mature enough to respect privacies of their fellows’ (Punjab University Registrar Prof Dr Mohammad Naeem khan) This above source tells us why we shouldn't ban phones in school as mobile phones are modern technologies and instead of banning these in schools we should encourage students to use these, as those students are the future and we shouldn't stop them from learning these new inventions like using a phone. technology is a must for the young generation and everyone has a phone these days. Moreover, everything nowadays can be done on phones and it is better than carrying all the heavy load when u can have everything on that one little device, instead of writing so many notes on pieces of paper you can have all your notes on your cell phone or any other modern technology like tablets or laptop, this way students are also assured that there notes won’t be lost and are preserved forever and they can use them at any time or anywhere without taking loads

and loads of heavy and bulky books with them. Students in highschool and above are old and mature enough to know how to use a phone and know that they should respect the privacy of their fellow students.If we keep controlling children and keep confiscating their phones and not letting them use it in school they will find a way to use them in schools and would do anything to use them which could result in them bunking classes and that way it could affect their studies. Adding on, mobile phones are a great way for parents to stay in touch with their children and even if we say that it is an excuse as schools have phones incase their is an emergency and parents need to be contacted to their children, sometimes students could be stuck in a place where there is no way to go to the head office and make a call, it could be trapped somewhere or kidnapped, then there is no way a person can go to the teachers to make calls. In addition, planner and calendar apps help students stay organized and help students learn time management skills as well as that way students know if there is a test or assignment due the next day by just getting a reminder on their phones.

“When students have access to technology and social media, they have access to empowerment and leadership online. As educators, we need to empower our students to use technology for good. When students are given the chance to use their cellphones in class as a learning tool, we can teach them how to positively influence and impact other people online.”

(A.J. Juliani, the Director of Technology & Innovation for Centennial School District)

A reason which can ruin the school environment and will no longer make it respectful and disciplined is that if students will have their phones with them all the time in school they will do anything for them to get an excuse so they can use their phone and even start to bunk classes, seeing this other students will want to bring their phones too and students will no longer pay attention to their studies. The solution to this is that teachers should do something which will want the students to focus on their studies and not lose interest in it and their mind doesn’t get distracted by such stuff like cellphones.

Moreover, Another reason is that some students who study computer science, know a lot of stuff about phones and computers and learn about stuff like cyberbullying etc. after learning about this stuff they try to test it on other students and random people which can result in a fight between them. The solution to this is that teachers should warn the students that this kind of behavior is unacceptable and that it could lead to expelling students from the school.

For both local sources and global sources, I made sure the information was reliable. I checked and went through multiple sources to find the best ones and to make sure that the information is factually correct and had something which could properly answer my question.

For one of my local sources I chose the website Gulf news, and after doing a little bit of research on it I found out that it was first launched in 1978, and is currently distributed throughout the UAE and also in other Persian Gulf Countries and I think that it is a pretty good source and is factually correct.

For my other local source i chose Dawn news It is the largest English newspaper in Pakistan, and also serves as the country's newspaper of record. Dawn is the flagship publication of the Dawn Media Group. Therefore , this means that dawn news is a factual source.

For one of my global sources I chose the website BBC news which is an international news source. The BBC World Service is the BBC's international broadcaster, delivering a wide range of programmes and services on radio, TV, and digitally, globally. So that meant BBC news have factual information and is a great soure for research.

For my other global source i had to do quite a bit of research on Studenttutor.com, as it was the first time i had heard of it but later i found out that it’s a tutoring website, first i wasn’t sure that should i go for it or not but then I then i got to know that more 50,000 users use this website so i decided to trust them plus their information looked pretty factual to me.

I personally think that students should be allowed to bring their cellphones to school because incase there is an emergency and they don’t have time to get to the teacher or the administrator to make a phone call or maybe in school they are stuck somewhere where they can’t go out to make a phone call so students should have their phone with them always. Another reason why students should be allowed to bring phones to school is that sometimes the students aren’t feeling well and don’t have energy to write down notes but also have an important lecture or class they can’t miss so they can come to school take picture of their notes from their phone and record the lecture so later when they feel they know they haven’t missed the lecture and can listen to it later.Students can also find a lot of information on phones which is not available in books. And I personally think that there are way more advantages of bringing phones to school than disadvantages. In case students speak phones during a test or an exam, he/she should know the consequences and phones should be allowed in school only under the restrictions on when they can use their phones and when not. Still I think students under the age of thirteen shouldn’t be allowed to bring phones to school because mostly when students get thirteen they are in highschool and in my opinion responsible enough to know how to use the phone but if the phone is being misused or used to leak school secrets then it should be confiscated immediately. In the end I think that cell phones are a useful device and for students who are in highschool and above should be allowed to bring their phones to school.

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