"The use of Mobile phones must be allowed in schools." Express your views either for or against the statement.

 In recent times mobile phones, especially smartphones have become a valuable tool for communication, education, and entertainment. Nevertheless, they should not be allowed in schools, because children are susceptible to misuse them. It would adversely affect their education, social development, and health, which is the prime responsibility of a school.

Mobile phones not only distract students but also the teachers during class. The blaring ringtones and rippling vibrations make both learning and teaching difficult, for the student and others in the classroom. Even when mobile phones are in silent mode, students are found to indulge in texting from under the desk or behind books. They are more interested in talking or texting friends in another school or class, surfing the web, or playing games. Such activities not only cause distraction but also adversely affect their academic performance.

The use of mobile phones in school vitiates the academic environment. Rumors travel fast because messages go viral on social networks. There are numerous incidents of students being bullied on the school campus, by their colleagues or students from other schools. Such activities disturb the peace on the campus and also threaten the students" emotional and physical well-being, thereby affecting their learning.

Furthermore, mobile phones have become an important device for cheating during examinations. The ingenious use of this technology has made it an important tool for using unfair means in the examination. Arguably there are other means of cheating. Nevertheless, banning mobile phones would be a good deterrent to cheating.

Besides impacting academic performance, the excessive use of mobile phones has also been found to be hazardous to health. Research has shown that its excessive use results in headaches, restlessness, disruptive sleep, stress, and fatigue. These pose a serious danger to the health and well-being of the students.

In addition to being a health hazard, mobiles have been known to stunt the social development of students. Instead of playing with friends in the school playground during lunch recess, they prefer to play with their mobiles. The recess which should ideally be spent in the playground to augment the learning process is thus wasted.

The only valid reason for students to keep mobiles in school is to be accessible in case of an emergency. However, in an emergency situation, mobile networks are known to crash, thereby defeating the very purpose of keeping them. Moreover, in case of an individual emergency, parents can always access the school administration or teachers on their phones and mobiles.

The impact of using a mobile phone in schools is devastating. It distracts students from their studies, vitiates the academic environment, hampers their social development, and adversely affects their health. Hence mobile phones must not be allowed in schools.