Students should be allowed to bring mobile phones to school.

         In this era of information technology and social media, mobile phones are becoming more of a norm than a luxury item. In fact, more and more students are able to save their money and buy mobile phones of various brands such as Samsung, HTC, Lenovo and Oppo in order to stay connected with their friends and family. In my humble opinion, I truly believe that students should be allowed to bring mobile phones to school because it is good to teach them to be responsible for their own belongings. There are a few reasons for this, namely, easier to communicate (A1), an excellent source of information (A2) and schools can control usage of phones (A3). Firstly, students should be allowed to bring their mobile phones to school because it will definitely make communication easier for everyone. This means that the mobile phone is a useful tool to make calls or send messages. Moreover, it is very convenient to inform our parents if there are any changes to the timetable. For example, if we need to let our parents know when to pick us up if the school suddenly has a program such as IM1S, co-curricular activities, marching practice and so on. Therefore, if students are allowed to bring their handphones to school it would be so much easier to keep everyone informed about our whereabouts. Secondly, mobiles phones are an excellent source of information and this is another factor why we should allow students to bring them to school. This is because students who have smartphones will have access to all the information on the internet at the tip of their fingers. In addition, it will help them do their work better and more efficiently. For instance, they can research online for information on projects given to them by teachers such as researching facts on famous people, science experiments, essays, reports and many more. Thus, allowing students to bring mobile phones to school will help them tap into the multitude of information that exists in the world wide web today. Finally, a final factor why I agree that students should be allowed to bring mobile phones to school is that the usage can still be controlled by the school authorities. The main reason for this is that the teachers have to explain the rules clearly to students that they can only use it outside the class teaching hours such as before and after lessons and during recess. Furthermore, it will teach students to be more responsible for their own things and make them better adults. Take for example the rule that if they use it during lessons the teachers can confiscate the phones, report to the discipline master, call their parents and others. Hence, it is the school’s responsibility to control the usage of the mobile phones so that it can bring more advantages to the students especially in improving their education. Conversely, there are other factors why mobile phones should not be allowed. This is because some students who do not have mobile phones will feel inferior compared to their rich friends who can afford smart phones. Additionally, handphones can be very distracting to the students because they will constantly want to look at their phones. Some examples are students become distracted when they play games, watch Youtube, make funny videos of their friends and teachers, cheat during examinations and so on. Ultimately, there are always two sides to a coin so we should realise and accept that there will be some disadvantages of allowing students to bring their phones to school. In short, students should be allowed to bring mobile phones to school because

handphones ease communication, allows students unlimited access to online information and the school authorities can still control the usage so normal lessons are not disrupted even though there are some disadvantages. I still absolutely agree that students should be allowed to bring mobile phones to school because it is a useful learning tool. I hope that the government through the Ministry of Multimedia and Communication should spearhead a comprehensive strategy to provide a solution by giving smartphones and providing free Wifi connection to all students in Malaysia.