VietNamNet Bridge – Many parents buy cell phones for their children to be able to contact them easiy and to control them. They don’t anticipate the problems associated with the phones.

Students used cell phones to film violence cases at schools
and launched to the Internet.
Many teachers complained their students used cell phones during class. They brought their phones to class but didn’t set the phone in the silent mode.

Teacher Ngoc Oanh from the Nghi Loc high school in Nghe An province said: “Sometimes, when I lecture, a student’s phone rings. Other students start asking each other whose phone it is. The class becomes noisy and no one pays attention to mylecture any more”.

Some students use “special” ringtones to surprise or amuse their classmates, such as the sound of a crying baby, a barking dog, amphibian sounds or obscene words.

Binh, a teacher from Hanoi, told VietNamNet: “Once I caught a group of schoolboys looking at indecent pictures of girls. But when I questioned them about that, all of them denied flatly and covered for each other”.

“Students often cover up for each other. Anyone who doesn’t will be boycotted by the rest. We can teach them good behaviour only when we catch them red-handed,” Binh said.

On online forums for teachers, many express their worries and anger over the use of cell phones in the class.

“It is breaking the school rules. That act also shows students’ disrespect toward their teachers. I feel irritated when my lecture is interrupted bya ringtone,” a teacher wrote.

After some students posted clips featuring a teacher insulting her student for 30 minutes and a teacher in HCM City slapping her student’s face on the Internet, not only teachers but the public discussed the need to ban cell phones at schools.

A reader named Le Anh wrote: “If students are allowed to use cell phones with cameras and recording function in schools, teachers will be very uncomfortable because they feel they are monitored all the time. They, thus, can’t lecture at east and the teaching quality is affected”.

Another reader wrote: “If unluckily teachers do something carelessly, they can end up in a comedic’ movies filmed by their students”.

Some schools have banned students from using cell phones but students have many tricks to use phones in class without being discovered.

“I was playing games on my phone when a supervisor entered my class. I threw the phone to the bin so he didn’t notice,” a student told VietNamNet.

With a phone, some students send text messages, make calls, play games and even listen to music during class. The cell phone becomes especially useful for students who are in love. Some hide themselves in the toilet for an hour to talk with their boyfriends or girlfriends.

some students have become inseparable from their phones. “I can’t live without my phone. Without the phone, I feel like I lose communication with the outside world. I can’t do anything without it. The phone is my world. I can play games, listen to music, surf the Internet and talk with my friends,” said Thuy, a schoolgirl from Cau Giay district, Hanoi.

Not only students in the cities but also students in rural and mountainous areas are crazy about cell phones.

A fifth grader in Moc Chau town, Son La province asked his parents to buy him a phone. The parents didn’t agree so the boy left his home.

Teacher Hoai from the Moc Ly secondary school in Moc Chau town said he has seized many cell phones from students, including many expensive phones. The phones will be returned to students when the school year finishes.

He said up to 70-80 percent of students in his school have cell phone.

The teacher also said that though the school doesn’t allow students to bring their phones to school and parents know the rule but when their children’s phones are seized, parents go to school to claim the phone back.

Some students whose phones have been seized buy new ones, often more expensive than the old ones.

Nguyen Thi Sinh, teacher of Dong Sang secondary school in Moc Chau town, where over 70 percent of students are ethnic minority people, said up to one third of students have mobile phones, worth at least VND2.5 million (over $200) each.

Some students have become “phone addicts”. These people can’t part with their phone even for a second.

“I send around 30-40 text messages a day. If my phone doesn’t vibrate??? several times a day, I will feel like I lack something and I will be very uncomfortable. I feel abandoned,” said a schoolgirl named Thu, from Hanoi.

A teacher of a high school in Hanoi told VietNamNet that after he seized a cell phone of a schoolgirl who was “addicted” to cell phone, the girl ran after her teacher for two days until she claimed it back.

“I can’t live without my phone for one day. The phone is my only pleasure. If you keep my phone, you should kill me now!” she told the teacher.

A schoolboy in Hanoi went mad because of porno clips he watched on his phone. The boy was brought to hospital for treatment.

“I couldn’t leave my mobile phone. I was addicted to those clips on my phone,” the student recalled.

The boy suffered from nervous disorder and was treated at a psychiatric clinic for a long time.

Doctor Nguyen Van Dung from the Psychiatric Ward of Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi couldn’t forget a terrible story about a girl and her younger brother who were addicted to sex games on their mobile phones and went mad. The two kids were born in a rich family but their parents were very busy making their fortune. They left their children at home alone with expensive mobile phones.

Phone addiction has become a phenomenon in South Korea. The country launched a program on cell phone addiction rehabilitation.

Should  students be allowed to use mobile phones?

Headmaster Nguyen Quoc Binh of Hanoi’s Vietnam Germany High School: Mobile phones are not bad. the problem is how students use them.

Some people suggested prohibiting students from using mobile phones at school but I think the most important is raising students’ awareness so they use  phones properly because they can have their advantages for studying.

Students posted many indecent clips on the Internet and they didn’t realize the consequences. The reason is that nobody warned them or helped them understand the case.

The responsibility of families, schools and the society is equipping them with skills and knowledge to realize what they should do and what they shouldn’t do.

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Tinh, 50, Hanoi: As a mother, I think that mobile phone is a necessary device for students. Through the phone, parents know where their children are and what they are doing. However, our children have misused or overused the cell phone.

I support parents who give cell phones to their children but they should not buy expensive phones.

I think schools should not ban students from using mobile phones. They should, together  with families, educate students to use phones effectively and reasonably.

Diem Anh, a student from Hanoi’s Nguyen Tat Thanh high school: Mobile phone is a very useful tool for students. They help us to keep contact with our parents, friends and they are useful tool for entertainment and relaxation.

Sometimes we film fights or take picture in class just because we want to use the camera function of cell phones to record “moments” in the class and we don’t think about the consequences.

It is unnecessary to ban us from using cell phones in schools. In Germany, students are requested to put their phones in a box before class. I think that is a good method

Everyone is using cell phones so why should students be banned from using them?

Schools should better educate their students how to use cell phones.

Nguyen Hai Linh, a 7^th grader from Tay Son secondary school, Hanoi: parents should check their children’s phones

When I was a primary student, I only used my phone to receive from or make calls to my parents. At present, I mainly use it to exchange lessons with my classmates or watch mobile television shows for entertainment.

My parents check my phone very often. I think their inspection is necessary and I don’t feel uncomfortable about this. It is better for parents to check their children’s phones rather than prohibiting them from using them.

Phuong Thao, student from Hanoi’s Nguyen Tat Thanh high school: I don’t use cell phones

Most of my classmates have one but I don’t use it. I contact my friends via Yahoo or landline phone. Many people said that I’m peculiar and outdated but I don’t want to use cell phones because I see many complicated issues associated with that

Though I don’t use cell phones, I think it is not good to prohibit students from using them. why would schools ban their students from using cell phones when students consider cell phones indispensable?

Cao Thuy Thom – Hong Khanh