Please stop me from using the phone!

Students use mobile phones during a school activity in Ho Chi Minh City - Photo: NHU HUNG

Contrary to the adults' worries, the little boy put on a smiley face and replied, "Okay, I'm putting my phone away now!"

From initial excitement

The young boy began his new school year at one of Ho Chi Minh City's top high schools. With excellent exam scores, he was likely to be accepted into all his first-choice schools after the 10th-grade entrance exam. Having just left a private boarding school where he spent his 9th grade year completely without phones or computers, he was naturally incredibly excited about a promising new world .

The school doesn't have a boarding program, so they don't strictly regulate lunch breaks. Instead of eating like a school lunch program, you can buy your favorite food at the canteen or restaurants around the school – it's great!

We're so happy we got to bring our phones to school and they didn't get confiscated!

The whole family initially shared in the excitement of the student starting 10th grade! One person going to school, the whole family was happy! Until things went wrong...

In the first month of the school year, my child lost 6 attendance points out of 100. Forgetting to be present: 2 points deducted. Forgetting to tuck in their shirt after PE: 2 points deducted. Forgetting their assigned cleaning duty: 2 points deducted. And anything below 91 points resulted in a one-level reduction in conduct grade. The whole family was in a panic.

Why do you forget such small things? What are you doing that you forget? Why are you still online all the time even though you're supposed to be in school? How can you concentrate on your studies if you're always glued to your phone?

The 10th-grade student replied: "I have to chat with my friends, I have to study in groups, I have to make slides, I have to sign up for extracurricular activities to make up for the attendance points that were deducted..."

At home, adults began to wonder why this school was so strange, allowing students to use phones so freely. If the whole class was allowed to use phones at school, how would the students communicate with each other? Or would each student be glued to their phone during recess, living in their own world?...

It's such a headache that there's no solution yet.

Actually, at the beginning of the school year, when the parent-teacher association elections were held, a chat group between parents and the teacher on Zalo was formed. The class teacher created a poll on the issue of mobile phones with... 11 options, including: completely banning their use in class (20 votes in favor), not allowing the use of phones during class without the teacher's permission (only 14 votes in favor);

Phones should not be used during class without teacher permission, including during recess (only 4 votes in favor). There should be a small locker for all phones in the class, which can only be taken out with teacher permission and returned when students leave (3 votes in favor).

If students use phones during class, the teacher will confiscate them and hand them over to the supervisor for 3 to 5 days, and parents will come to pick them up (two people agreed). Other suggestions regarding disciplinary measures, including a complete ban on bringing phones to school, did not receive any agreement!

After gathering opinions, the homeroom teacher announced on the Zalo group that the agreed-upon plan was: "Students are allowed to bring phones to school. They must be set to vibrate mode. We agree to prohibit the use of phones during extracurricular and regular class hours, except when permitted by the teacher. Outside of class hours, students can use their phones normally!"

The school and classrooms don't prohibit it, but students are like birds released from a cage. They eat dinner at home with their phones glued to their screens, and during class they're using both computers and phones. When asked, they say they're studying, asking a friend for help, or asking the teacher for advice.

I glanced at my child's phone and computer and saw countless chat groups: class chat groups with the homeroom teacher, individual subject chat groups, group chats, sports chat groups... every group was buzzing and flashing! I wonder how my child will study when they have to worry about so many chat groups?

I don't know what benefits the phone brings, but in the first month of the 10th grade school year, my child has already shown countless annoying behaviors. Using studying as an excuse, my child stays up as late as possible every night, and even when the alarm clock rings in the morning, it's very difficult to wake up.

I forget all sorts of things: I forget to turn off the lights and fan after studying, I forget to close the door when I'm the last one to leave the house, I forget to fold the blanket, I forget to do the laundry, I forget to change the cat's water, and I got 6 points deducted for 3 of those things I forgot in class!

The parents couldn't just smile silently and decided to go see the homeroom teacher. During their conversation, the teacher praised their child for being well-behaved but criticized him for being unsociable and quiet outside of class. However, she couldn't understand why, in the class group chat, he was always the first to answer any questions she asked, even replying to messages in the group chat at 2 AM once! The parents' smile was mixed with tears.

"Teacher, have you seen the media speaking out? Allowing students to use phones during recess means they're no longer living a normal life as students?" The teacher nodded in agreement: "That's right, ma'am. I've reminded them constantly, even during the flag-raising ceremony I asked the students in our class not to use their phones, but they showed me two other classes on either side and the students were still glued to their phones!"

Could you please stop creating group chats, miss?

Unable to ask the school to ban their child from bringing a phone because "everyone else brings one," the parent could only plead with the teacher: "Please, teacher, ban my child from bringing a laptop to school and ban the use of a phone in class, more strictly!"

The lessons have already been taught in class, and there are plenty of class meetings and parent chat groups to give instructions. Teacher, please don't create another chat group with the students, okay?

It's difficult to ban students from using phones because... parents object.

She honestly shared that the school didn't issue a general policy, but instead shifted the responsibility for management to the class and the homeroom teacher. When she wanted to prohibit or punish something, the head of the parent-teacher association disagreed; when she conducted a vote, the parents also disagreed with the ban. All she could do was remind the children to be self-disciplined; she couldn't do anything more!

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/xin-co-hay-cam-con-xai-dien-thoai-20241014082727832.htm