Priyantha Kariyapperuma, Director General of Telecommunication Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka, is in ‘banning’ mode these days. Having ‘banned’ twelve sex sites on the initiation of IGP, now he plans to ban the mobile phones at private schools. For government schools, Susil Premajayantha, Education Minister has taken a similar move. Minister Premajayantha said that he has taken this decision to avoid the harmful situations that had led to a ‘number of unfortunate incidents’ in schools recently.
The incident that triggered this move was the suicide of a fourteen year old girl of a leading school in Colombo, whose mobile phone, with personal information, has been confiscated by the prefects. We are bit confused why no ban on school ties – what the girl used to hang herself in the wash room. Please note: No international conspiracies to tarnish the image of the country have not been indicated so far.
54 Comments
Black Rose
Interesting, but I feel that issues such as suicide will not cease just because they opt to ban it . They should look into issues that students face day in and day out. Look into reinforcing their counselling means and maybe even looking into the modes of discipline taken at the school. Sure, when we went to school we never have mobile phones in out pockets, but with changing times as well as the advancement of technology, these things are quite common. Sad how they need to ban it, though I hardly think it will stop the usage.
Musil Sodaya
Education Minister got it wrong.
He should have banned wash rooms at schools because the student committed suicide in a wash room.
Rohan Samarajiva
It will be helpful for all if the TRC states the section of the enabling Act under which it issues banning orders to private schools. I have raised this issue before and had no response. To ban something the authority doing the banning must have the power to do so.
Under which section is the DGT issuing these bans? And does the DGT know that he does not actually have any powers, that they are all vested in the Commission? So under which section of the 1991 Act is the Commission issuing these orders?
Amisampath
It’s insane to link the suicide incident with this banning decision. Underlying message in the suicide incident is, there’s a massive breakdown in personality development among Sri Lankan teenagers over last 10 to 15 years. We are paying the price of ignoring the importance of paying attention on children under 10. These children can’t stand a pressurized situation like humiliating among school friends, and commit suicide as a quick fix for the problem. Who’s fault is this? Can we solve the problem by ban everything comes to our vicinity? I doubt. The ministry of education has a bigger role to play, than just banning mobile phones. Ministry of education should seriously look at the crisis of interpersonal relationships among teenagers in Sri Lanka, and initiate programs to develop “well built, physically and mentally stable human beings” as citizens of the next generation. Just banning everything won’t take us anywhere!
However, my personal opinion is, mobile phones must be banned inside schools; for a different reason. A child spend only 6 hours within the class room per day, and his or her main focus during that 6 hours should be studying; not making phone calls or playing games. If communication is such an “urged” need (where a child cannot wait 6 hours without speaking to their parents or any other loved one), why can’t we have public phones inside class rooms? May be LirenAsia can initiate such a program, without just blaming the authorities for everything.
Yasith Vidanaarachchi
@Amisampath
Maybe you don’t know, maybe you are just ignorant. But children spend more than just 6 hours inside their schools, and a mobile phone is a very useful communication device, far more convenient than public pay phones. There’s no need to go back to the stone age. Let the kids use their phones, when they are not in classes. And stop doing stupid bans. I am a student and I know that there were times when I wished that I had my mobile with me.
Queen
And when they find a love letter on a school kid? What then? Will they ban notebooks or pens & pencils?
This society needs to learn what it is like to be a child, or a teenager.
Banning mobile phones is not even close to being the answer.
Kirigalpoththa
Agree with Black Rose. The real root cause is not addressed here.
Nalaka Gunawardene
It’s not clear exactly who has banned mobile phones from ALL schools, and using what specific legal authority. But in this ban-happy land, few people ask questions and hardly anyone actually challenges such an administrative excess especially if introduced on some populist whim of the moment.
Not just the DG of Telecom, but the incumbent Minister of Education also seems to love banning various actions and practices without a proper risk assessment. In May 2009, the Ministry of Education imposed what a top sports official termed as a ‘temporary ban on all martial arts sport tournaments’ following the tragic death of a school body after receiving injuries during a Wushu game. Source: http://srilankatoday.com/content/view/2458/52/
Somebody should advise the Minister of Health to ban and outlaw all mosquitoes, or at least make it strictly illegal for the mossies to breed. A strict interpretation of the Mosquito Breeding Control Act of 2009 should condemn all those law-breaking mosquitoes to heavy fines and prison terms…right? If you don’t believe me, see:
http://www.dailynews.lk/2009/06/02/news24.asp
We should have a ‘ban watch’…and keep a list of items that the GOSL bans at its whim and fancy, depending on who shouts the loudest, never mind the evidence and reasons.
Nalaka Gunawardene
Oh, by the way, as Chanuka can probably confirm, a ban introduced in the 1970s made it illegal for students in Sri Lankan schools to use electronic calculators in the classroom, and certainly at examinations. It was argued that the calculator was an elite item that would give an unfair advantage to the rich, city-based kids over the rural masses. The original reasoning is long gone, and a calculator is within the reach of even the poorest schoolkid today, but as far as we know, the ban still stands, and it’s a punishable offence in the books.
The trouble with these bans is that they become entrenched, and stay on long after the original provocation is long forgotten, and the banning individual is long extinct…
Sakvithi
Having read the comments above, I feel what gets banned tomorrow will be this web site! :-)
Abu Saeed Khan
To the Puritan all things are impure.
DD
The child committing suicide must be dealt with a proper inquiry beyond the ban of mobiles in schools.
Mobiles are strictly banned in my kids school in London. If anyone is caught with a mobile in school the said mobile is confiscated and left in school reception where the child’s parent will need to physically go to school and sign for it’s return. The child receives a Saturday detention. The school has an annual merit scheme with Bronze, Silver and Gold certificates awarded to children through merits given to children by the teachers. The award programme is so strict that even one detention, three late to schools or more than three days absence of school makes the child drop out. This merit system is well recognised outside of school also and works well for future university enrollment or employment.
So mobile phones, any kind of electronic equipment such as ipods. mp3 players or portable game players are strictly prohibited from school. The tone and the manner this prohibition is conducted under work well to keep it running smoothly.
Beyond PK and the TRC’s shortsightedness I do believe a Police inquiry is needed to investigate the child’s suicide.
Just an observation;
Four years ago I migrated from Sri Lanka. The main reason behind this was the child’s education. My child attended an international school from LKG in Colombo and I remember a good friend and parent saying ‘Oh it will be really good for her education but I guess you know character wise she is finished in a school in London’.
The child now goes to one of the top ten schools in London. She plays Piano, Guitar, Violin, sings in three choirs, has passed her grade five singing exams and is in the top set in school. She does sports and won discus U15 in the school sports meet, skis and cross country running. Amongst her best friends are two girls who won full schols two Trinity Guildhall. As part of UK’s most abled students program for English, the child has attended sessions at Guardian where they were trained to write and design a front page layout. She starts her GCSE’s in September and will sit for 11 subjects, two of which she will fast track in one year.
She and her best friends go skiing in Austria, Latin trips to Rome and take active part in all school events and productions. It’s a mixed school and they are very aware of boys. They have formed a rock group with mixed sexes. But also so well driven to perform in life as well as academically boys do not take over their life. Their curfew is 10pm which they follow with no complaint. This is admirable as they are 14 years old.
Her previous friends in Colombo already drink, smoke, go night clubbing, think only about having a boyfriend.
It’s funny how the west have realised the folly of the MTV lifestyle and a new generation of kids are growing up with sound values and the understanding of education.
The developing world ape MTV and the kids grow up with parents having no idea what their children do. The majority of them I am sorry to say.
Omar
See http://www.lankadeepa.lk/2009/07/27/front_news/09.htm What I could not continue doing with guns and bullets in Taleban-Afghanistan is done in Sri Lanka. I must go there with my cadres to help them.
Omar
More at http://www.divaina.com/2009/07/28/news24.html
Your blog lirneasia will be banned soon. You can host the website now in a server in Afghanistan!
BAN Ki Moon
Oh… Shivers!
Abu Saeed Khan
How about OLPC? Kids may use Skype! Nicholas Negroponte must be a crook and someone please make him persona non grata.
Thilakawardene
Thanks Amisampath & DD for making some sense here..
Most people ignore the fact that, suicide case and the ban of mobile phones are two different situations, that we have to deal separately. No one can argue that, carrying a mobile phone was the reason for that girl to commit suicide. It’s a deeper social issue, which goes beyond the scope of LirenAsia may be. For, LA; this is yet another piece of material to attack authorities at TRC, to settle their personal issues. This thread is not sensitive to the true cause of that girl’s death. DD was right; in most developed countries they don’t allow mobile phones inside schools. But, our so called “liberal thinkers” wants to be more liberal than the westerners do. We cannot measure everything from a Canadian or British yardstick. IMHO, ban is good for the future of our school kids. If it’s banned inside Parliaments, why do school kids need mobile phones during school hours?
However, as Amisampath mentioned above, we need to look at the massive erosion of social values among younger generation of this country far more seriously. Actions must be taken to reassure our younger ones to convince that being humiliated amongst friends is not the end of the world.
Dee
Agreed with Amisampath. This incident has it’s roots in completely ignoring children’s psyche all throughout our education system.
A worried parent
Were there a ‘massive erosion of social values among youth’ (a popular cliché, for which strangely nobody asks for evidence) it should be primarily the concern of parents, not government. Also there is no evidence that this is caused by the use of mobile phones. This is like Champika Ranawaka finding fault with mobiles for polluting environment, when there are so many bigger culprits.
If someone’s banning mobile phones on the basis of their ability to store porn, why not ban PCs in schools? Why not remove all computer labs from schools? Do the school authorities or Ministry of Education know what goes on the computer labs after school?
True, most of us didn’t use mobiles when we were young. That was why we were lost and taken home by strangers, had no way of informing our parents when we miss the school bus or sick. As a 7 year old I had to walk eight kms through 1983 July riots because I had no way of contacting my parents. I could imagine the pressure they had till I reach home.
I agree in places where transport works perfectly, bombs don’t go off, molesters are arrested and punished, people are not shot in daylight and there is law and order there is little reason why a kid needs a mobile. Why our kids need them is because we live in an imperfect society. We are concerned about our kids. Mobile was a piece of equipment that gave us that feeling of security. What government does now is to take that security feeling off from the parents.
As a parent, I strongly object this move. This is not something not a single parent had asked. This is what the government had imposed upon us to cover its inability to build a proper education system.
Rohan Samarajiva
I hope my question re the section under which the banning order was issued is not seen as an attack on the TRC. This is a reasonable question citizens should ask more; it is not an attack. There is a cause of action in common law: Quo warrento?
I have not expressed an opinion on the substance of the issue yet, at least on this thread. The question I would like addressed (as a parent who had a child in school until recently) is whether there is a need to coordinate the movements of children as they go to or come from school, even if one concedes that they need not have live phones while in class.
Is it not possible to balance the two requirements of silence and attention in the classroom and coordination outside class by providing lockers? If that is too expensive, should this decision not be left to parents, with clear penalties set out for phone use during class? And what has the Museaus suicide have to do with any of the above? Are these not the relevant questions to ask in relation to the purported banning orders, which is after all the topic of the post.
Anupama
So we finally know…the suicide happened at Museaus College! All the news media carefully avoided naming the school, except to suggest a leading girls school in Colombo 7. Given the high political and military connection this school’s management has, we wonder if the investigation ordered by the Education Ministry will ever be made public and whether any action will be taken.
Thilakawardene
Out of curiosity…
Those who believes, mobile phones SHOULD NOT be banned inside schools; can please tell me 5 uses a school child can obtain, by carrying a mobile phone during school hours?
If social erosion is not a concern for a government; can tell me what should be the concerns of a government?
I know it’s a fashion for some people to criticize every actions taken by a government, because that’s an easy way to get the attention from the media. But, this is an issue with the future of our younger generation.
Yasith Vidanaarachchi
@Thilakawardene
I use twitter through my phone, to find directions to many places, including other schools, when I have to attend to an event after school.
I use my phone, to contact my parents after school, if I need them to pick me up from somewhere.
I use my phone, for quick googling for information (study related).
I use my phone to call up friends to ask them how to solve a difficult sum.
I use my phone to tell my mom that I’d be late to come home, because I have to goto some other place on my way home.
The list goes on, I’m pretty sure that I can come up with 10 solid reasons why as students, we need mobile phones. And maybe you don’t know, but 90% of the communication between school kids happen through texting. The kids are networked through their phones, if you try to break the network, you are taking away more than just their phones from them.
Indi Samarajiva
Phones can be used in school to look information up (Google, Wikipedia), to call parents during emergencies, to take notes, record lectures, etc. Kids can also be contactable by their parents when they’re picked up. Emergencies is probably the biggest issue for families.
Also, as phones become more powerful like computers, we should be asking why we don’t have more in our schools.
DD
@ A worried parent:
Banning Mobiles in Schools;
1. It helps the child attend better at lessons. A probable distraction is removed.
2. Rivalry and using latest gadgets to show off – no one can be envious/jealous of your child and other social problems occur.
3. Theft of the said mobile in school.
4. Bullying by elder students/mugged or mobile threatened from owner.
5. IN extreme cases the said suicide.
There is a reason.
My child has a mobile for use in an emergency to and from school. It’s kept switched off and stored away during school times.
Emergency in school:
School has everyone’s mobile number stored for sms in case of mass emergency like school having to close early.
If the child has an emergency they can use coin phone at reception, phone with nurse or the school calls parent.
The evidence you seek of eroding social values can be easily seen if on a Friday or Saturday night you go to the nightclub at Taj Samudra or the Whitehorse Pub down Navam Mawatha.
CHILDREN DO NOT NEED MOBILES IN SCHOOL.
A worried parent
Oh. Some people think every school in Sri Lanka have pay phones and nurses. Good for them. Amen.
N B
Medieval thoughts to begin with. This could amount to suppression of a child’s freedom of speech and expression. As per UN Charter on human rights,
Article 27.
(1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
Although a layman in the subject, I would like to think a Mobile phone is a scientific advancement that falls into this category. If I’m not mistaken Srilanka is a signatory to the UN.
My kid is just five, attends a school in Singapore but she is allowed to have her mobile phone. And its perfectly OK and no one complains. Over here it’s just a basic necessity than a status symbol or anything of the sort like in Srilanka.
Whilst I agree there will always be some jerks and pervy kids who use it for purposes not originally intended for, one shouldn’t generalize, paint everyone with the same brush and ban the use of mobile phones. That’s just crazy. It is upto parents to inculcate good values in their kids. I am afraid technology has nothing to do with it. It (a mobile phone) just boils down to convenience in a modern society.
When my kid started Montessori, I bought many things like drink bottles, books, but also a Mobile Phone. I also programmed the speed dial keys with my number and my wife’s plus the driver’s and the emergency services unit. I also trained her how to use it when she needed to call. Every parent in her class has done it. I seriously don’t see any logic behind this ban let alone any so-called benefits. But then again I’m not that surprised either. This is Sri Lanka, the land like no other or the fools’ paradise, where things happen in reverse order.
If I were a parent living in SL, I certainly would challenge this decision in courts. My child has a right to speak to me as and when she pleases, feels like and wants to. Whether school or church, it’s all-secondary to me. Whoever comes in between a father & child is a fuckwit. Its that simple :-)
Sanjana Hattotuwa
An open letter to the President of Sri Lanka on this matter and other urgent concerns reg. morality and patriotism is published in full here – http://www.groundviews.org/2009/07/28/another-dangerous-pervasive-foreign-item-corrupting-innocent-sri-lankan-minds/
Lakshan
Started as a comment here and it turned out to be a long rant – http://www.web2media.net/laktek/2009/07/28/ban-schools-education/
Musaeus Parent
I am a very concerned parent who has two teenaged daughters at the leading Colombo school where the suicide happened last week, Musaeus College. I hesitated before writing this, but want to speak up. I remain anonymous to prevent my own children being hounded and harassed by the school.
From what we have personally gathered (including what the school authorities have done their best to hush up and cover up), this tragic incident had little to do with the mobile phone per se. Even if the girls concerned were caught with any other item that is deemed objectionable by the school authorities, the sequence of events might well have been the same. That banned list is long, and includes teen magazines, musical CDs, DVDs, stickers, posters of musical or movie stars, tatoos…etc.
This incident has everything to do with the extreme and excessive approach to discipline that Musaeus College principal and many members of staff try to enforce, with little or no regard for student psychology and the modern times we live in. Their aim is to be a Buddhist Convent, and they make no bones about it. They have publicly said, in school events, that they’d rather have students suspended, expelled (and we might now add, dead) than allow any breach of discipline.
No reasonable parent would argue against discipline as a hallowed principle. But there are sane limits to everythint – as a medical student, we were told that the essential life-giving liquid water can cause death if consumed in excess! Draconian discipline, more fitting to a military boot camp than a girls’ school, is at the root of the misery and tragedy that took place at Musaeus. The teachers and prefects are a law unto themselves, terrorising all and answerable to no one.
The government, in its typical style of looking for quick fixes that it thinks will make it popular (really?), has banned mobile phones in schools. Banning is always easier than understanding a problem or even acknowledging it. But the mobile phone had no direct link: as I said above, it would easily have been anything else the fussy school objects to.
The much deeper issue is how our near-feudal schools system, both public AND private, is routinely abusing more than 3 million school kids practically every school day of the year, all in the name of discipline! Things boiled over in Musaeus last week, but this is by no means the only school where unpardonable excesses happen as a matter of routine.
Supun Sudaraka
ප්රවෘත්ති පිළිබඳ දැඩි ඌණතාවකින් පෙළෙන හුදී ජන පහන් සංවේගය උදෙසා ක්රියාත්මක වන අප හිතවත් ජනමාධ්ය වර්තමානයේ අන්තර්ජාලය භාවිතාවෙන් සිදුවන අකටයුතුකම් වාර්තා කරමින් සිටියි.
මේ දුටු හද කම්පිත ජනතාවගේ අනාගත නායකත්වය උසුලන පාසල් සිසුන්ගේ සියදිවි නසාගැනීමේ ප්රවනතාව උච්ඡත්වයට පත් වෙමින් පවතින මේ මොහොතේ ඔවුන්ගේ අභිවෘද්ධිය උදෙසා ඔවුන්ව දැනුවත් කිරීමට ප්රථමයෙන් ක්රියාත්මක නොවී, ඊටත් වඩා අති සාර්ථක වූ ක්රමෝපායන් මඟින් පාසල් සිසුන්ගේ සියදිවි හානි කරගැනීම වලක්වාගනු ලැබේ.
මේ සඳහා වූ අති සුවිශේෂී ක්රියාමාර්ග මෙසේය…
පාසල් තුළට ප්රථමයෙන් ජංගම දුරකථන රැගෙන ඒම තමනම් වන අතර ඒත් සමඟම පාසල් තුළ ප්රධාන වශයෙන් ටයි පටි තහනම් කෙරෙනු ලබයි. එමෙන්ම වහාම ක්රියාත්මක වන පරිදි වැසිකිලි වසා දැමීමට කටයුතු කළ යුතුය. පාසල් තුළ වීදුරු බෝතල් හා විද්යාගාර උපකරණ වහාම ඉවත් කළ යුතු අතර. ආපන ශාලා සහ විද්යාගාර ලෑලි ගසා වසා දමන්නේ නම් මැනවි. අවසාන වශයෙන් පාසල් ගේට්ටුවද වසා දමා. පාසල් භූමිය බහු ජාතික සමාගමක විකුණා දැමීම ඉතාමත් යෝග්ය කරුණකි.
මෙම මරණ ඉහළ යෑම සඳහා ප්රධාන වශයෙන් හේතු සහගත වන ප්රේම සම්බන්ධතා ඇතිවීම වලක්වා ගැනීමට බල කෙරෙනු ලබන අතර. ඒ සඳහා පිරිමින්ට කාන්තාවන් නොපෙනෙන, කාන්තාවන්ට පිරිමින් නොපෙනෙන ඇස් කණ්ණාඩි “හැරී පොටර් සහ ඔහුගේ පුත්රයෝ” සමාගමෙන් මේ වන විටත් ඇනවුම් කර ඇත. එමෙන්ම දැනට විවාහ වී සිටින පවුල් නැවතත් ලියාපදිංචි කෙරෙනු ලබන අතර. ඔවුන් විවාහ වූ ක්රමය එහි සටහන් කිරීමට අත්යවශ්ය වේ. එහි,
ආදර විවාහයක් ලෙසින් සටහන් වී ඇත්නම් ඔවුන්ව වෙනම ලැයිස්තු ගත කොට පසුව දික්කසාද නඩු දමා දික්කසාද කරවනු ලැබේ. එමෙන්ම දික්කසාද කරවනු ලබන පුද්ගලයින් එලෙස දික්කසාද කරවනු ලැබූ වෙනත් පුද්ලයින් සමඟ කසාද බන්දවනු ලැබේ.
සෑම විවාහ සම්බන්ධතාවක්ම යෝජනා විවාහ විය යුතු අතර. මංගල දැන්වීම් පුවත්පත්වල හෝ “අනුමත” කරනු ලැබූ වෙබ් අඩවි වල මුදල් ගෙවා ප්රචාරය කර, මඟුලක් සොයා ගත යුතුය. ජනතාව ගමන් කරනු ලබන පදික මාර්ග තුළ සෑම පුවත්පතකම මංගල දැන්වීම් අතිරේකය නොමිලයේ බෙදා හරිනු ලැබේ. පුද්ගලික මංගල කපුකම් ආයතන දිරිගන්වනු පිණිස ඔවුන්ට ණය හා වෙනත් දීමනා ලබාදේ.
අවසාන වශයෙන් ජංගම දුරකථන භාවිතා කරනු ලබන පුද්ගලයින්ට තිර පහසුකම් නැති “ගඩොල් භාග” ලෙසින් හැඳිවෙන දුරකථන භාවිතයට දිරිගන්වනු ලබන අතර. දැනට භාවිත දුරකථන වලට “ගඩොල් භාග” හුවමාරු කරනු ලැබේ. කාන්තාවන්ගේ ආරක්ෂාව පිණිසඳ ගඩොල් භාග වැනි “ගඩොල් භාග” දුරකථන වක්රකාරයෙන් ප්රයෝජනවත් බැවින් SLS සහතික යටතේ විවිධ හැඩයෙන් යුක්ත ගඩොල් භාග සියරට තුළම නිෂ්පාදනය කරනු පිණිස කර්මාන්ත ශාලා බහුජාතික සමාගම් විසින් සිය ප්රාග්ධනය යොදවා ඇති කරනු ලැබේ.
මේ සමඟ මිල ඉහළ යන ගඩොල් සෑදීමේ අමුද්රව්ය මිලට ස්ථාවර මිලක් යෝජනා කරනු ලැබේ.
අද ප්රවෘත්ති මෙයින් අවසානයි. අසා සිටි ඔබ සැමට සියදිවි හානිකරගැනීමකටවත් දිවියක් නොමැති සුභ දිවියකට සුභාසිරි!
Pissu Poosa
According to Thilakawardene if we have less than 5 reasons for students to use mobile phones at schools we should ban them.
What a great logic!
Can Thilakawardene tell us 5 uses of wash-rooms at schools? (apart from using to commit suicide) If he/she cannot name 5, we should ban wash-rooms in schools!
Thilakawardene should not go out in rain. His brain might get damaged.
Amisampath
@Yasith Vidanaarachchi,
Srry, I just noted your reply. You are correct. May be I’m just ignorant. You are a student and you know everything. Thanks.
Yasith Vidanaarachchi
At least, I know more about our life, than you do.
DD
@ a worried parent
I sincerely hope I haven’t offended you in anyway. If so my sincere apologies. Sincerely.
Banning of mobiles in schools
The point I endeavored to make unsuccessfully was that parents fail to see beyond the real social problems and expect the government to take responsibility and hit us over our heads.
When I was in school we had to have our shirts buttoned to the top, hair to never be grown long (cannot touch collar), and black plain shoes. My friends and I wouldn’t have even dreamt of taking a mobile to school. I believe this discipline needs to be brought back to schools in Sri Lanka. By the parents and schools. Not the government.
I SINCERELY HOPE THAT THE SUICIDE IS INVESTIGATED PROPERLY AND THE CULPRITS WHO PERPETRATED THE CRIME, BROUGHT TO JUSTICE. DEMAND THE RESIGNATION OF MUSEAUS PRINCIPAL.
Amisampath
Re-posting, as my last comment is not appearing on this thread. On latest developments, SLT seems to be blocking all ghs[dot]google[dot]com hosted website (primarily blogger and google sites) for being “potentially porn”. My personal website is no longer accesible through SLT IP’s. Read this tutorial-net[dot]blogspot[dot]com
Sonali
uhmmm…well as i am a school student doing my A2 levels next year…i honestly think children should have mobile phones with them but certainly after a certain age. As yasith mentioned before it is the us, the schooling kids who know wat is going around them in school more than even the teachers.
mobile phones have been very very useful for me through out the time i have been having one. contacting parents would be the major factor.
parents can easily keep in touch with their kids.
As i attend a leading international school in colombo- all my teachers have our numbers. in case they have extra classes they simply sends a text / SMS to us.
so please edults who are against children keeping phones- think twice….
sonali
sorry about the speeling mistake- *adults
The real reason
Why does a child have to commit suicide because she was “ashamed” by a teacher? I think I believe the real reasons that is coming out now, that the phone confiscated contained porn?, and that is the real reason for the child to feel so ashamed.
Now what would the government do if this child’s phone was found while at home by her mother with whatever it contained.. the only difference would have been the place of death and the use of something else instead of the school tie?
The fault cannot be just attributed to the school, its principal, teachers or prefects, as it mostly lies with the parents who did not know what their only child was doing with the phone given by them (or by her BF?)..
da blogfather
THE ANTI ENTERTAINMENT LEAGUE OF SRI LANKA!
Join The Crusade To Abolish Entertainment In Sri Lanka!
Radio, Television, IPods, Mobile Phones, Internet and Movie Theaters are ruining our great nation by encouraging us to escape from the stark realities of life!
Too much time and money is wasted on such useless pastimes. We must wake up before it is too late and use this time and money for something really worthwhile, or face the ultimate destruction of our 2500 year old culture!
Participate In Our Many Important Activities!
* Join “Send Hip Hop Artists To The Moon” campaign!
* Fire bomb record stores that sell CDs of popular rap stars!
* Bomb transformers so that electricity will be cut off and viewers wont be able to watch their favourite ‘Mega Tele drama’ programmes!
* Write, SMS and call your local radio stations and demand that they broadcast 24 hour banna programmes, 365 days a year!
* Abduct famous tele drama stars so that they won’t be able to complete future episodes!
* Picket mobile phone sales centres and call for a ban on the sale of phones with music and video facilities!
* Hide your teenagers IPod and destroy his/her phone charger!
* Protest outside movie theaters and detonate parcel bombs in ‘Internet Cafes!’
* Intimidate musicians and tele drama actors whenever you see them, making life so unbearable for them, that they leave the country!
Join THE ANTI ENTERTAINMENT LEAGUE OF SRI LANKA today and fight against modern entertainment where ever you find it!
OUR MOTTO: “DOWN WITH HIP HOP! LONG LIVE JANA GEE!”
da blogfather
Here are some repressive laws designed to regulate private sexual conduct in Sri Lanka. These laws will come into effect the day the “Jathika Hela Urumaya” comes to power and Sri Lanka is turned into a “Dharma Raajya.”
1) Couples found kissing under an umbrella will have their umbrella confiscated and their lips sealed with super glue for not less than a period of six months.
2) Perversion will be defined by law as any sexual act that requires enough energy to regenerate a self-winding wrist watch.
3) Any individual who has been convicted of bestiality or sodomy will be required by law to wear a dog collar while mixing in public.
4) It will be considered a felony with a five year jail term for exhibiting a vasectomy scar to any female other than your wife.
5) Any sexual act that “burns ones eyebrows or pubic hair, leaves the tip of one’s nose bruised or results in bite marks to any part of one’s anatomy will be considered a criminal offence.
6) A minimum of eight years rigorous imprisonment will be the punishment for any man convicted of weighing his genitals in mixed company.
7) A fine of Rupees 5000/- will be prescribed for anyone who tosses confetti in the air while reaching a sexual climax.
8) A gynaecologist’s hands will be considered deadly weapons and will have to be registered like firearms with the police department.
9) Ten years imprisonment will be the punishment for anyone engaged in the manufacture, sale, distribution or use of contraceptives and aphrodisiacs.
10) Any orgasm that registers on a Richter scale will be considered a crime against nature and will be punishable by not more than six months of solitary confinement.
11) It will be unlawful to wear a purple shirt, a pink trouser and white shoes while seducing a fashion designers daughter.
12) Teenagers will be required to sleep with both hands cuffed to the bed posts until they reach marriageable age.
13) An unmarried man who is found performing oral sex in a shopping cart in any ‘Sathosa’ supermarket automatically becomes ineligible for food stamps.
14) It will be against the law for an unmarried woman to own, manage or work in a sperm bank.
15) Any woman who arouses herself with a vegetable or any foreign object will be hanged.
16) Any soldier who dies while having intercourse with a prostitute will not be buried in a military cemetery with full military honours.
17) The death penalty will be invoked on anyone who inflates a condom at a children’s birthday party.
18) Any intercourse that doesn’t result in pregnancy will be deemed unlawful.
19) Anyone convicted of having sexual relations with the dead will not be legally permitted to celebrate Halloween.
20) The removal of the price tag from a water bed will be considered a misdemeanour. The act automatically becomes a felony if one happens to be having intercourse on the water bed at that time.
indrachapa
You must give them the Dhamma Education as well. Parents are not sending their kids to Dhamma schools thinking that they would get cought to unnecessary affairs. Children must get used to different types of environments and then only they understand what the society is?…..
Nalaka Gunawardene
Here’s a story from across the Palk Straits on how a more mature democracy is handling the same kind of tension between tradition/culture and modernity…
A new Indian TV show goes where no show has gone before, and stirs up a controversy. It’s a reality show where participants (all consenting adults) are asked, on air, questions such as: Have you ever had an affair with a married man? Have you ever enjoyed watching a male stripper take off his clothes at a party? Have you ever had surgery to physically enhance your appearance?
Shhhhhh! Everyone is talking about it, and questions are asked even in Parliament. They have held animated debates, arguing whether the Indian version of the hit American show Moment of Truth threatens India’s “moral and cultural values”.
The culture wallahs are alarmed. The usual refrain of ban-ban-ban is heard. The scenario so far is similar to what unfolds in Sri Lanka…
Then, it diverges. Maturity and common sense kick in. The federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, tells parliament: “I am a woman, a mother and a grandmother, and I am concerned about the issues, as all members are, and to see that the values we grew up with do not get eroded”. BUT she adds that there is strong sensitivity in the media against government control, and the government is evolving a consensus that could lead to the formation of an independent regulator.
As BBC Online reports: “There are many in the media, as well ordinary people, who say the MPs need to focus more on the pressing issues of the country’s social and economic development, rather dwelling so much on the morality of TV shows.”
Read full story at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8173180.stm
Or go to the website of the show: http://www.starplus.in/sachkasaamna/index.asp
A Student :D
WEll i mostly agree with YAisth… We studentz should have phones n ds age…. AS I’m doing my A/L nxt year…. But no use of bringing those phones to school. as from erlyr dys itz not allowed to bring to school.
bT you should not balme da school for dat suciding case,,,
tz da fault of da grl…. Why should a girl hv to suicide because of taking da phone…. as I know there were some messeges n all n dt phone & she couldnt face her parents & da wrld… & thats Why she hs suicided I guess.. Not because taking the phone from her or punishing her,,
well the parents sholuld look after thier child.. If they did that this would not happened..
WE, Girls or boys or waevr it is we should have phones in this age… BUt we have to use it in a good way,,,,
Piyal
Mobiles are to be banned while walking after following incident.
http://www.divaina.com/2009/08/08/news25.html
da blogfather
What will they ban next? That is apart from adult only movies…the internet? Don’t be too surprised if they do. These idiots are following everything China dose.
da blogfather
i made a mistake in spelling ‘does.’ All of you should read George Orwell’s ‘1984.’ Sri Lanka will become a ‘dystopia’ in a few years time…just like Orwell describes in his book. At least in his book there was only one ‘BIG Brother.’ But we idiot islanders have been blessed with ‘4 BIG Brothers’…what a lucky race of people we are?
A dystopia (from the Greek δυσ- and τόπος, alternatively, cacotopia, kakotopia, cackotopia, or anti-utopia) is the vision of a society in which conditions of life are miserable and characterized by poverty, oppression, war, violence, disease, pollution, nuclear fallout and/or the abridgement of human rights, resulting in widespread unhappiness, suffering, and other kinds of pain.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dystopia
y
a good start…….!
MoE
http://www.island.lk/2009/08/29/news3.html
Susil orders CDM phones for all schools
by Bingiriya Cor
Following the ban on the use of mobile phones by students during school hours, the Minister of Education Susil Premjayanth has directed authorities to provide schools without telephone facilities with CDM phones.
This would enable students to contact their parents in case of emergencies and principals have been directed that students be allowed the use of school phones in emergencies.
This was revealed to The Island by former Deputy Director of Education, Bingiriya Region, W. M. Balasooriya. He said that at present 90 per cent of schools countrywide have telephone facilities.
Yasith Vidanaarachchi
Seriously WTF.
waterbeds
I remember when I was in high school also in a private school, mobile phones are also banned during start of a subject or a class because according to teachers its disturbing their discussion..
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Today, LIRNEasia hosted a workshop to launch digital tools created by Watchdog Sri Lanka, funded by GIZ’s Strengthening Social Cohesion and Peace in Sri Lanka (SCOPE) programme. Researchers, practitioners, activists and journalists attended to learn about these tools, and how they can potentially help them in their own lines of work.
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