Mobile phone policing won’t root out bullying, say critics

 

The bullying happened when the victim told off one of the students for watching porn on his mobile phone.

PETALING JAYA: Parents calling for restrictions on mobile phone access in schools in the wake of a bullying case are missing the point, say critics.

This week, videos went viral of a group of Form One students taking turns to punch a classmate at Sultan Azlan Shah Mara Junior Science College in Perak, allegedly after the victim scolded one of them for watching porn on his phone.

The school has expelled 10 students.

Yesterday, Berita Harian quoted a number of parents with children at boarding schools as saying that the management should limit the access students have to phones. They claimed that this would reduce opportunities for abuses such as watching or sharing porn and excessive social media use which could lead to bullying.

Child rights activist James Nayagam, however, said such policing of mobile use would do more harm than good.

“Kids and teenagers have grown up with phones, and to suggest that they be taken away is a Jurassic way of thinking,” he said.

“Phones or the internet aren’t the problem. Taking them away is just going to upset the children without actually addressing the bullying.”

He said that while cyberbullying and its physical manifestations should be causes for concern, a more appropriate approach would be teaching students and parents about responsible use of the internet.

“We need to be dealing with the mindset of the bullies, and addressing the issue at that level. Caning or taking their phones doesn’t do anything.”

Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim, president of the Parent Action Group for Education, also criticised the call for restrictions in the use of phones.

“If there wasn’t a mobile phone in the situation at the boarding school and it wasn’t taped and broadcast, the victim could have died and the bullies would have got away with it,” she said.

Criminology professor P Sundramoorthy of Universiti Sains Malaysia said he could see some merit in taking phones away as a way to reduce bullying, but added that it would not address the root causes of the problem.

“There should be some limit for young people, whether that means not allowing them to use phones all the time or restricting certain content,” he said.

“The issue of cyberbullying is very real, as is the risk of children seeing potentially violent pranks and trying to copy them. If you look at the school shootings in the US, for example, many are radicalised by internet forums and the like. So, there is a very real threat to these kids.

“However, what is more important is education – teaching children about ethics and integrity, right and wrong.”

He said schools should implement classes dedicated to teaching these values to help curb gangsterism and substance abuse as well as bullying.

“Then, not only will children be instilled with the right values, they would also be more likely to call out and report things like bullying when they see these.” - FMT