Goa's Schools and the undesirable ringing bells

As a school student, I remember the ringing bell in school as a reminder for a certain action to follow. It started the day with a bell  for the assembly and then continued throughout till afternoon to separate different periods of teaching from one another. In between the ring for recess was a delight and a pleasure to contain oneself in mid-school activity most yearned for. Finally the bell ringing to depart for the day signalled the end of the day at school.

In today's world of Goa however, there is a second bell ringing too often which is giving Goan schools a nightmare.This bell is the undesirable ring of the mobile phone which has somehow intruded into the school campuses much to the disturbance of one and all. The problem is wholesome because it is found that both students and teachers have fallen prey to the use of the mobile in school thereby misusing the school premises and creating a nuisance.

While students in schools are frowned upon at the use of a mobile the same still goes on despite forbidding it, thanks to half-hearted policies followed by schools in Goa. However the use of the mobile by the teachers is a matter of disgrace for the teaching community who should be setting the right examples for the students to follow. While some teachers answer calls right in the class, there are others who leave the classroom to ensure that their calls are attended in time.

The above violations have therefore prompted the Directorate of education of the government of Goa to issue a circular to all schools regarding the misuse of the mobile phone and has highlighted the use in the school campus as an ugly reflection of the teaching-learning condition while giving examples of the disturbances created in the teaching and learning process.

The mobile phone is indeed a very dangerous tool in the hands of students who have been known to use it for purposes other than just being in close touch with their family. Most mobiles have cameras which can be misused and cause distress to others while also inviting embarrassment for the schools and the parents leading to crimes. Also the "sms syndrome" has changed the way people relate to each other besides being a complete drain on the spelling culture inculcated by students due to the sms following short wording codes.This fact has reflected painfully in the answer papers of students where they have unwittingly baited themselves into using short words due to the dreadful mobile habit thereby making themselves academically short of acceptance.

Also the young minds tend to waste their energies and useful time on useless cell phones which at their age is an undesirable evil which can definitely affect study patterns. The parents of the Goan students are directly responsible to allow or disallow their children with a mobile phone and they should shoulder the minimal responsibility to ensure that  children do not carry a phone to school and should not be provided a phone in the least until they finish school and college education.

The directorate of education should enforce practical solutions to this problem by penalising parents of such students to ensure a complete unflinching and firm compliance of rules. Teachers should also be disallowed this unholy practice of using mobiles in school as it is a deterrent to concentrate on the teaching process as also to prepare for a teaching session. Also, it is a blatantly contrarian example set for the students to follow.

The modern generation should not be allowed to misuse technology in the name of modernism while decaying their future in the bargain.