Ring in a better society

Mobile phones are in the news again. A mobile phone was behind the tragic incident at a leading girls' school in Colombo. This is not the first time that mobile phones have caused such misery, but the very high profile nature of the case has awakened society to the dangers posed by mobiles in wrong hands.

If the statistics quoted by the five mobile operators are true, there should be around 10 million mobile telephones in active use. This is a tremendous achievement for a Third World nation, for in reality it means that almost everyone has a mobile phone, if you count out very young children and very old persons. It also means that a good number of schoolchildren have mobile phones, mostly gifted by parents or relatives. And most of them are not basic models - they are filled to the brim with features, including the obligatory megapixel still/video camera, 3G, video playback, memory card slots, games et al.

Why do students need mobile phones? Generations of Lankans have gone to school without ever seeing a telephone in their homes, leave alone mobiles, a relatively new technology introduced to Sri Lanka in 1989, when this writer was just finishing schooling. That has not made them any less savvy in the wider society. If we ever wanted to take a call during or after school hours, we went to the school office or an outside post office. But that need hardly arose.

Today, children routinely carry mobiles into their classrooms and even use them while taking down lessons. Texting friends has become the norm while the classes are on, to the point that some students cannot write even a couple of sentences in 'normal' English. Worse, with phones equipped with cameras, web browsing and video capability becoming common, that age old evil has crept into children's minds - pornography. One no longer needs VCDs pr DVDs to access such material - the mobile will do nicely.

Thus all right thinking citizens will laud the Government's decision to ban the use of mobile phones by students. This decision should have been taken earlier, but as they say, better late than never.

In fact, for a country that still does not allow the use of calculators in school and public examinations, it is surprising that banning the equally ubiquitous mobile in schools took this long. Many international schools have done this for years - students who have mobiles should leave them with security, where a token is given.

This being a democracy, there is no law which can possibly prevent the use of mobiles by students outside school and school hours, but parents can perhaps discourage their sons and daughters from carrying a mobile on school days. But once inside the school, this new rule must be strictly applied. We hope teachers will also lead by example, by not using their mobiles in school.

That leaves the question of handling any emergency situation which may require a student to phone home. We suggest the installation of a couple of card/coin operated payphones in each school the use of which can be supervised by a teacher or school worker. That is a fair solution which will satisfy both students and school administrators.However, there is no reason why school authorities should stop at mobile phones. Children should not be allowed to bring in any device with video and/or gaming capability - iPods, PSPs, MS Zunes, Creative Zens etc. The school administrators are well within their rights to prohibit audio-only devices as well including radios and MP3 players.

It is not only in schools that mobile phones have become a menace. Granted, it is an essential communications tool in the modern world. One can be contacted virtually anywhere, anytime if equipped with a mobile phone. But some seem to have taken it a bit too far. For example, we see plenty of drivers with their ears practically glued to the phone. This is extremely dangerous for all road users, for the driver's full attention is not on controlling the car or looking at the road ahead.

Then there are those who use the phone in restaurants or movie/drama theatres. Years ago, I saw a promotional trailer in a Canadian cinema - a bomb disposal expert is called into defuse a 'garden variety' nuclear bomb.

Just as he gets ready to cut the wire, a mobile phone rings. He is distracted and the bomb explodes. This was followed by a message to 'keep your mobile phones switched off' during the movie. Yes, it can be quite annoying when a ringer goes off in the middle of an engrossing movie/drama and it does ruin the experience. All phones offer a silent mode precisely for this reason, but it should not be a big deal to keep it entirely switched off for a couple of hours, unless your life depends on it.

There are others who talk into their phones very loudly in public transport. For the record, I do not want to know whether someone has bathed the dog or taken the cat to the vet. Conversations can be conducted without being a hindrance to others.

As I have mentioned previously, today's phones let you do a lot more besides taking and answering voice calls. Privacy concerns have been raised, with people using the in-built phone cameras to capture private activities of others.

Such practices have naturally permeated into schools as well. Once again, it is a tricky situation as phone cameras do have many legitimate uses, just like their stand-alone counterparts. Technology evolves a terrific pace and people will always find immoral ways to use such technology. It is up to civil society to take steps towards eliminating such practices.

We must also laud the Government for requesting Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block pornographic and other harmful websites. This was also a long overdue measure. One might argue that such a measure would infringe on fundamental freedoms, but such steps are vital for the greater good of the greatest number. And the greatest number in this country would necessarily mean the 4.5 million schoolchildren.

The Police also deserve plaudits for raiding video stores which openly or secretly rent/sell pornographic VCDs and DVDs to children and adults. Young school boys in uniform are frequently seen at such so-called video parlours.

The Customs should be on alert for consignments of such videos and destroy them if and when detected. Those running such rackets must be apprehended.

There has been another suggestion to ban or restrict the airing on free-to-air television of advertisements that either exploit women and children or portray them in a bad light. It is a fact that children are used to advertise various products in an unethical manner.

Women are used in various suggestive ways to promote everything from shampoos to cars. The authorities should look into this matter, now that concrete action has been taken on several similar fronts. There are many advertisements on television, aired on prime time, that families cannot sit together and watch.

There is an acute need for an independent and impartial Advertising Complaints Commission in this country for probing complaints on advertisements and regulating the industry as a whole. Such bodies exist in several countries including England and they can become a foundation for a similar institution here.

There should be no room for advertisers and television stations to pollute young minds via advertisements and exploit women and children for commercial gain. There should be laws to prevent such instances. Creativity should not be a licence for vulgarity, in any audiovisual or print medium.

That brings us to the whole question of teledramas aired on local television channels. Most of them feature downright crude language and expressions which are not suitable for young children. They also feature themes and concepts which can affect young minds. But they are aired from 7 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. to ensure a 'family' audience and a maximum target level for the countless advertisers. Stopping these teledramas would be commercial suicide for the networks, but it should be possible to adjust the timings. In the long run, such dramas could even be phased out and replaced with quality productions. We do not say that children should grow up without knowing what romance is, but there is a way to present everything in a family friendly way.

That is a challenge facing both regulators and the wider society. We cannot stop the forward march of technology or their use by young people. They will often be the first to use high technology as soon as it reaches the average consumer. There is a greater role for parents in this scenario - they can control what their children buy or access. In any case, they have an obligation to ensure that their children do not go astray. Teachers and principals are the next line of defence.

Religious leaders too should play a pro-active role in guiding the children on the correct path.

It is only through such a concerted effort that we can build a society that cherishes moral values over material things.