Seeing Beyond The Fear.

Is it possible that the usage of smartphones will not in any way be an hindrance in the imparting and learning activities of the classroom ?. Is it possible that phones won't cause students to misbehave during lectures and when not receiving lectures ? I believe there can be a balance which depends more on how students utilise the opportunity of using a phone in or during school hours.

_{This image is mine}

During my time in secondary school, we had countless scenarios of a phone causing an issue between teachers and students. Senior students have been bringing phones to school way before I got into the senior secondary school, but it was more like secretively. Teachers and school authorities knew but they never said anything or pass a law against the use of phones. But some students were just stubborn and wanted to do whatever pleased them, like playing loud music just because there was no teacher in class,watch 18+ videos, take very funny pictures inside the class room then post it online. Stealing of phones too and phone accessories. With all these, teachers started to seize phones from students. There was a male teacher that would even seize the phone and ask for money to bail out the phone from his office. He charges as much as 500 naira to 3,000 naira as at then (2015-2017) which was quite a lot.

So, yeah we had phones with us during school hours. I started using an Android phone when I got to SS1, I barely took it to school at first because I didn't want it to be seized. We were all obsessed with phones, playing games, watching movies and videos in class till we forget that we ought to call the next teacher for the next lecture. My own set barely had issues of phone being seized because of usage at the wrong time. No report of students caught watching 18+ videos or playing loud music. We maintained the privilege we were given till we graduated.

I believe that times like this, students should be allowed to use phone in classes, not during lectures, but just during their free time. The world has advanced so much and a lot of helpful academic AI has been developed that will enhance students learning and researches. With phones, students can get and also share among themselves informations faster. I remember preparing to write exam to gain admission to the university, the past questions I read were gotten online, some sites had past questions where you could evaluate how much prepared you are for the exam. Students of these days need phone.

There are lots of beneficial things student can give their time to online: learn a skill, get access to e-books, work online while still a student to lift off some financial burdens off their parents. Imagine a secondary school student knowing about Hive, he or she could easily introduce friends, classmates and school mates to join Hive. As long as students do not use their phones for whatever they aren't supposed to use it for and when they are not supposed to use them, then students should be allowed to use phone in schools. Some parents and or teachers and school authorities may not want to because they fear that students will go beyond limits if given access to use their phones in school. Why not give them a trial with a warning or let's say rules on how and when to use the phones during school hours then, watch how well or not they would utilise such privilege.

Thank you for reading. Kindly share your thoughts in the comment.