By Alexia Saoulli
MOBILE phones in classrooms could be a thing of the past if Education Minister Pefkios Georgiades next week adopts one of four proposed solutions to end what has become an increasing problem.“We have come up with four solutions to the problem, one of which has been accepted by all parties involved, and will present them to the minister on Monday. He should hopefully make a decision very soon, so that the proposal can be put to the House and the relevant law amended,” Acting Head of Secondary Education Christos Pantelides told the Cyprus Mail yesterday.After becoming aware of a new trend among school children to use their mobile phones to violate classmates’ and teaching staff’s privacy, Georgiades instructed that a committee be formed to find a solution to what had become an undesirable situation. “The committee was made up of ministry representatives, parents’ organisations, student organisations, and teachers’ unions,” Pantelides said. “It included everyone involved so all could voice their opinion on what solution we felt was the right one.”The ministry official said during the course of its meetings the committee had drawn up four scenarios.The first involved banning mobile phones from school entirely.“The phones would have to remain at home and would not be allowed on school premises. They wouldn’t even be able to have them switched off in their school bags,” he said.The second scenario involved allowing children to take their phones to school as long as they kept them switched off until they got off school premises, he said.“The third solution we discussed was the possibility of introducing mechanisms at all schools that cut off mobile phones’ receptions over a certain area. The problem with this scenario is that although they won’t be able to make phone calls or send and receive text messages, they would still be able to take video recordings or photographs,” he said.Pantelides said the fourth and final solution, which had achieved unanimous support as the most workable option, involved banning phones during class time, but allowing their use during breaks.“There is already a law that states the use of mobile phones during lessons is illegal and that if a student is found using his or her phone the teacher should take it off the guilty culprit, switch the phone off, and notify his or her parents. But for some reason it is not implemented, with students often refusing to hand over their phones and so on.”He said what the committee proposed was building on the existing law by making penalties stricter. “If for instance it’s not in a student’s bag, he or she will face a reprimand. If it’s open and they use it to send a text message they could be suspended. If they use it to send a photo or video that violates a student or teacher’s privacy they could face five days’ suspension or expulsion, depending on the seriousness of the violation.”He said the proposal was still in its early stages and first had to be approved by the minister and then sent to the House. “Other than more stringent regulations, however, we’ve agreed to launch a campaign to teach students the proper use of mobile phones and their technology. Children have to realise it’s a criminal offence to record someone without their knowledge. They should also know about the health effects of overusing their phones.” Pantelides said unfortunately the problem of abusing mobile phone technology was not inherent to Cyprus.“I’ve been in contact with others abroad and it’s something we see in both Greece and England as well. In the UK, I was told the problem of taking photographs of female students in changing rooms was a growing concern and in Greece a girl’s rape was recorded on a mobile phone,” he said.Last month, Greece’s education ministry banned students from using mobile phones at school following the rape of a 16-year-old girl during a school sit-in, videoed by fellow pupils on their mobiles. Pantelides added: “Adults and children need to learn to respect other peoples’ personal lives. They need to be educated and properly informed about how to use technology, not to abuse it.”
Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2007
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