Many students have tried to use their cell phones secretly to send SMS messages in class, and some students with low self-control will indulge in playing with their cell phones, but in mainland China, similar situations may be significantly reduced in the future. Recently, China’s Ministry of Education issued a notice stating explicitly that students cannot bring their cell phones to school. Some teachers believe the move is to prevent students from accessing sensitive information, while others question whether the new policy is at all feasible and will only end up as a political show.
According to a notice issued by the General Office of the Chinese Ministry of Education, primary and secondary school students are “in principle not allowed to bring their personal cell phones to school”. If necessary, they must obtain parental consent and submit a written application, and students must hand in their cell phones after entering the school, which will be kept by the school and prohibited from being brought into the classroom, and mention that schools must not use cell phones to assign homework or require students to use them to complete their homework.
The Ministry of Education explained that with the increasing popularity of cell phones, the use of cell phones by students has many negative effects on school management and student development. The new policy was introduced to protect students’ eyesight, allow them to focus on their studies at school and prevent them from becoming addicted to the Internet and games.
However, Mr. Yao, a teacher in Hubei, believes that the authorities’ real concern is to prevent students from accessing sensitive information.
Mr. Yao: “In various groups on the mainland, WeChat groups qq groups, criticism of society, accusations against the government is widespread. Students for the dark side of society. They will certainly have more or less the opportunity to contact to receive to understand.”
Surveys conducted in China three years ago showed that close to 70% of Chinese primary and secondary school students own smartphones, a higher percentage than American and Japanese students. Pictured, students use their phones at a shopping center in Beijing on Jan. 26, 2018.
As early as two years ago, China’s Ministry of Education (MOE) issued a notice asking localities to prevent apps with content deemed harmful, such as pornographic violence and online games, from entering primary and secondary school campuses, and to prohibit schools from recommending students to use teaching apps that have not been reviewed by authorities. The Ministry of Education has introduced the “upgraded” measures in order to explain to public opinion.
Fang Jun: “If you allow students to bring their cell phones, you can’t control them, and you don’t have so many human resources to control what programs they download in their phones to carry out their activities, especially games. The only way is to beat them with a stick and not let them bring their phones, but after class, after school, you still can’t control it.”
In addition to China, France, known for its freedom and openness, also passed a law several years ago requiring elementary and middle school students not to use their tablets, smartphones and watches on campus. Fang Jun believes it will be much more difficult to implement similar policies in China than in France, just the fact that students’ phones are kept by the school.
Fang Jun: “(China) has tens of millions of high school students, how do you enforce it? Where are the resources, the resources to keep security so that schools can implement these measures across the board? There is not. Because usually when something happens in mainland China, they (the authorities) do a little bit of propaganda. There is no real Time control and there are no corresponding penalties. Everyone is doing a political show.”
He described cell phones as double-edged swords. The authorities should not blindly cut across the board.
Fang Jun said:- “Without the development of game providers, Chinese students today, they may know nothing or half of the history of dynasties like the Three Kingdoms, so we must make good use of cell phones instead of blocking and banning them, we should develop the positive effects of cell phones.”
A survey conducted in China three years ago showed that close to 70% of Chinese primary and secondary school students have smartphones, a higher percentage than American and Japanese students.
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