By Charlotte Webster-
Primary school students should not be allowed mobile phones because it is bad for their development.
The conclusion made by a team of researchers in association with the eye of media.com suggests that mobile phones are the source of a great hinderance to many primary school children, who spend too much time on their phones and are exposed to the viles of the internet.
The research shows that a high percentage of primary school students in the UK spend too much time on their mobile phones, rather than developing their minds and focusing on their academic work. Over 75% of primary school parents we spoke to say their children spend alot of time on facebook connecting with the online world like facebook, and are exposed to all sorts of indecent communication from other bad children, and even pervert adults who can access children online. The proposal is soon to be presneted to the UK education Secretary for consideration.
Children are also vulnerable to sexual advances from other children their age who have learnt and picked up bad and perverted tendencies from their older siblings which they unfortunately influence other kids with. Children under 11 are expected to be relatively innocent and pure, but in today’s world, many are growing up too fast, and picking up very worrying and dangerous habits.Many primary schools forbid the possession of mobile phones in the school premises, but many pupils clandestinely take their mobile phones to school and use them during break and lunch times. Many more primary schools are more lax about the situation and simply ask children to turn their phones off in school, rather than stoping them from bringing it in the first place.
27 year old Chris Williamson, who is heading the research told the eye of media.com ” many parents may not take kindly to the idea that a proposal to ban kids from having mobile phone is being put into action. Parents ultimately will believe they should decide whether to buy their children phones are not. However, parents do not always have the right judgment, and many of them are blind to the bad development mobile phones can have on children. The exposure they have to sexual perversion and sexual innuendos should be considered very worrying”.
Times have changed, and gone are the days when mobile mphones were the preserve of adult teenagers and working people. Children as young as 8 and 9 years old these days own expensive Androids phones, and use them as a faslse and immature basis of status among their peers. This can put unnecessary pressure on parents who cannot afford to buy those kinds of phones for their children. Children should spoend more time reading, even at the age of 8, rather than going on mobile phones were their otherwise innocent hearts can be easily corrupted.
”owning mobile phones also puts pressure on parents to maintain the monthly bills of their children on top of other commitments”, Williamson said. It’s just not a good idea, although most parents mean well in buying their children these phones. It should definitely be banned for all children under 13 in my opinion”.
The conclusion seems harsh in a world and society where children are bought mobile phones as birthday or Christmas presents. No parent would want their child lacking beyhind their peers. A complete ban would make it illegal for children to have mobile phones, but how would it be policed? Children caught with mobile phones once a ban is implemented will have the phones seized, and their parents fined. This stringent method will be accompanied by educational training in schools to explain why the policy is good and in the best interest of the children.
Reasonable objections will be made by parents who would say that mobile phones enable them to be able to contact their children and track their whereabouts. However primary school children should always go straight home from school and not need to be tracked down at all. The same goes for 12 year old children, if the policy were to be broadly applied. One problem the proposal may have is in terms of some of the knock on efefcts. If online negative effects is cited as one of the reasons children are not alowed mobile phones, it will have to also mean they are not allowed to own laptops.
Many children are bought laptops, and laptops that access children to world wide knowledge can be very useful and educational. ”Children can use the computers available in school, Willaimson says. They don’t need to use them at home”. Giving children expensive things to own makes them take these things forgranted and sometimes develop an unwarranted ego that can ruin their chances of good development. It may not be asy to successfully implement this proposal, but it will be interesting to se eh how it goes