Phones are now an essential part of everyday life. A day can not pass by without an individual making use of his phone, except the person's phone is spoilt or lost.
There is need for balance in the use of technology and the use of phones is no exception.
In the workplace, use of phones is restricted to the barest minimum. Some occupations instruct workers to switch off their phones during working hours.
For students, phones could help them in many ways and could also constitute a nuisance if not properly handled. If use of phones is controlled in the workplace, how much more in schools where most students are not mature to handle the distractions that come with it.
For Secondary School Students
Phones should be restricted to all except the school prefects.
This is because total restriction could be catastrophic in cases of emergency and the need to make a phone call arises in the absence of a teacher.
We experienced such scenarios as students and we had to run some distance before we could get help. I vividly remember the day a student was convulsing and we couldn't do anything until one of us rushed to a teacher who then helped call the clinic. We couldn't carry him in that state because he was jerking with so much power that any attempt at carrying him would result in an injury for him and those carrying him.
Use of phones during classes may be permitted by the teacher handling such class if he feels it is necessary but generally it would not be necessary.
Use of phones in exam halls should be outrightly banned except the exam is testing phone usage or Ai usage abilities which I have never heard before.
For the purpose of teaching, learning and research, it is better for schools to have a standard ICT lab or computer centre, where students visit and use desktops or laptops as this provides a better ICT experience and is easier to be monitored and supervised by the school. It also works with minimal distractions unlike the phone which social media apps keeps buzzing with notifications that can distract even the focused minds.
For University Students
This is adult education and as such phones cannot be restricted but it should not constitute a distraction in classes and also should not be used in exams as well.
Usage of phones makes things easier. It makes information easily accessible and at the finger tips.
In the long run, people who maximise the usage of phones would find things easier, learn more and be more productive whereas those to whom the phone serves as a source of distraction would find out that the phone did them more harm than good.
It is important that while using phones or any technology for that matter, we should continually weigh the pros and cons so as to ensure that we are benefitting from that device else we run the risk of "had I known" which always comes at last.