Mobile phone ban rings in division between teachers and students

Students call move “regressive,” while professors say it will prevent a lot of chaos

CHENNAI: The recent ban on the use of mobile phones on the college campus has been received with bitterness by students but welcomed by management. While students call the move “regressive,” teachers and heads of institutions say that it will prevent a lot of chaos. The Directorate of Collegiate Education (DCE) in Tamil Nadu issued a circular recently, asking all arts, science and other colleges,  coming under its purview, to ban the use of cell phones by students on the premises of the institutions.

The circular, issued by Director R Sarumathi to all Regional Joint Directors of Collegiate Education (RJD) earlier this month, says the ban applies to government, government-aided and self-financing institutions. Students say that being tech-savvy is integral to the new generation and that this move will force students to rely on books alone.“Many times we use phones for referring new concepts we lack understanding of. Furthermore, we use WhatsApp to co-ordinate department events with other students,” said A Selvi Theressa, a student from a women’s college in the heart of the city. She is a club coordinator in her college’s environment club. 

“When I want to inform students about a meeting after college hours, I usually post on the group and students assemble. It is impossible to expect them to see notice boards when we have so many clubs,” she said. Anna Mary Thomas, a second-year literature student, who is part of her college western dance club, said that students play songs from YouTube to practise dance. “We usually sit in empty open spaces in the college before dance competitions, and decide which song we should dance to,” she said, adding that it’ll be inconvenient to find spaces outside the college to congregate students simply because they cannot use mobile phones.

AV Vandana, a journalism student, said that even her teachers encouraged her to shoot short documentaries on mobile phones as college cannot afford to buy a tablet and network connection for each student. “We need to evolve with the day and age, where everything happens on phone,” she said. College authorities have a different point to offer. A former principal of an old college in the city said that boys were apprehended in the past for taking pictures of female teachers during class hours. “I have even suspended a few students for taking pictures of teachers’ backs.

They circulate these pictures among themselves during class,” he said, adding that mobile phones should definitely be banned in classrooms. “I tried to impose a blanket ban on mobile phones on campus, but I was far from successful. Students were being caught every day and it didn’t make a difference when even parents came in protest against my decision,” he said. 

A Kalavathy, a physics professor in a city college, said that students were often texting during class and teachers felt humiliated when their efforts went in vain for no fault of theirs. She, however, added that students who come to college are adults and should choose their priorities. “I do penalise students if I catch them using mobile phones during class. I mark them absent that day. But I don’t confiscate it because it’s the students’ future that is at stake and they should decide what is important to them,” she said.

Parents too oppose the move
Parents too oppose the move strongly, claiming that mobile phones offer a sense of security to their ward. “My daughter travels to Nungambakkam from Chrompet every day. When she has her phone, it’s easier for me to track her activities. Sometimes she comes late when she has some work after college, and she drops me a message or calls on those days,” said K Sadhashivam, a parent of a second-year B Com student. Heads of departments could collect phones every morning and return them to students after class,” he suggested.
 

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