Use of Mobile Phones in Schools Banned in Tamil Nadu

The Tamil Nadu government Tuesday banned the use of mobile phones in school premises throughout the state following complaints that many students were not paying attention to studies.

The Tamil Nadu government Tuesday banned the use of mobile phones in school premises throughout the state following complaints that many students were not paying attention to studies and were using cell phones in class rooms.

No exceptions would be made on the basis of age or other factors in applying the ban, an official release said.

Minister for School Education Thangam Thennarasu said it had come to the government's notice that some students were not paying proper attention to their education due to the use of cell phones inside the classrooms.

"Students have also been found sending SMSs from classrooms instead of concentrating on their studies. Parents and educationists had requested the ban and the government decided to act upon these suggestions," the release added.

While some parents expressed apprehensions about the measure, school authorities felt the ban was necessary.

S. Sridhar, father of a teenaged girl studying in a higher secondary school, said, "In these times when the security concerns of parents are very high, the cell phone was a handy instrument to allay our fears in times of any emergency. Now that it has been banned, we do not know as to how to contact our children if they are late while coming home for some reason. The facility also helps parents to track their wards. Now it cannot be done."

"The abuse of SMS is common among college students and not those in school. While one has to admit that some schoolchildren do listen to FM radio on their mobiles, a total ban is uncalled for," said Lokeshwari Govindaraj, the widowed parent of a teenaged boy who is in high school.