Should Primary School Children Use Mobile Phones and Other Gadgets at School?

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Should Primary School Children Use Mobile Phones and Other Gadgets at School?
The issue of the use of tech or other gadgets in primary school is controversial. Some
observers speak out on behalf of the comfort and liberty of the young generation; others highlight
the necessity to follow discipline and regulations. Some people say that cell phones provide a
modern teaching tool; others believe that they are nothing more than a serious distraction.
It is hard to imagine a person without a mobile phone today. Having this ubiquitous gadget
at hand helps us to stay in contact, get and send messages, communicate with our friends, search for
needed information and just have fun (Earl, 2012). It is no secret that children want to copy adults
in what they do. So they try to follow their habits and the way they behave. As a result, children are
quite good at using various modern devices.
There’s just one striking difference between these two age groups. With school children,
studies take a great deal of their time and they have to demonstrate much effort and sufficient
academic progress. So, any distracting factor can influence their studies and grades rather
negatively (Owen, 2017). The situations when children use their cell phones to take calls, text and
surf the Internet tend to disrupt lessons over and over again.
A number of applications like ‘Calculator’, ‘Camera’, ‘Viber’ and many other options are
likely to immediately catch young owners’ attention. It can be hard to resist the temptation to
communicate online, find the correct answer to the test or send a funny meme to your mates.
For this reason, some schools impose very strict rules to prohibit bringing mobile phones to
school. The arguments which the principals and teachers use are quite convincing. The main
problem with cell phones in school is that it is really hard for the children to focus their attention for
a long time and resist distractions (Earl, 2017). So the prohibition on using mobile phones can be
qualified as a natural attempt to help young children gradually develop their attention spans.
Additionally, there are a number of risks involved in bringing a phone to school such as
losing the phone or having it stolen. Banning technical gadgets from school helps ensure that
personal items will be safe. On the other hand, it has to be mentioned that there are phones at
schools and children can use them in the emergency case. This way of communication is available
for everyone (Freed, 2017). Another factor which makes the teachers be against the idea of using
mobile phones at school is that children use their gadgets to cheat on tests. They use web resources
to get good grades. As a result, their knowledge remain at a low academic level.
Issues of personal academic achievement and overall discipline at school are not the only
considerations. In fact, many children use their gadgets to harass group mates. They find it rather
entertaining to record the episodes of their lives and then place them on websites like Youtube so
that the rest of their group mates can watch them. Having fun is surely a good thing, but the
problem is that young children are seldom tolerant toward their peers. Also, primary school children
hardly ever care about the consequences of their actions, particularly when they are involved in
online activities.
So, by forbidding the use of various gadgets at school, teachers speak preserve moral values,
protect self-dignity for the children and keep them away from mischief (Owen, 2017). Generally,
when children learn to follow rules, their moral values become stronger. Also, they will learn to be
tolerant with each other and have less motive to disrupt their class. After all, the idea of
implementing restrictions at school has a considerable number of advantages. The process of 
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forming a well-mannered personality takes time and has to be gradual. Though the process of
training and upbringing requires effort and passion, the outcomes are rewarding. When children
learn to obey rules, they gain a better chance to grow up and become people with high moral values,
strong ethical principals and the ability to behave adequately in any life situation.
Works cited
Earl, Robert. "“Do Cell Phones Belong to the Class Room?”. The Atlantic.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 23
June 2017.
https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/05/do-cell-phones-belong-in-theclassroom
Owen, Jonathan. “Children Should not be Allowed to Smartphones until They Are 16, says School
Behaviour Expert ” Independent, September 12, 2017.
Freed, Richard. “Why Phones Don’t Belong in School”. The blog, April 13, 2017.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-freed/why-phones-dont-belong-inschool_b_9666730.html