The trend of sneaking cell phones in school

The use of mobile phones by the students at schools is strictly prohibited, in order to create a conducive learning environment. However, the trend of sneaking of phones in school is on the rise due to social networking and its addiction among the youth.

A survey carried by Success shows that students sneak in phones to communicate with their friends from othher schools or even those who are in the same school via Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Whatsapp.

This according to the interviewed students has become the core reasons of the using phones illicitly during class hours.

Vivian Stephano*, 42, a teacher at Manzese Secondary School, admits to Success that despite being aware of the the fact that students carry their mobile phones at school, the teachers don’t really bother. It’s easier to change a habit but not an addiction.

Such kind of students have formed groups that teach each other bad manners and they are the ones whose parents do not cooperate with teachers to discipline them.

“We have more than 30 students who we have given up on them. School management has tried to call their parents to discuss on how to deal with the students whose bad actions are adolescent driven but parents never cooperate,” says Vivian.

Adding to that she says, with the given situation, teachers only concentrate to teach those who pay attention in their classes.

As a result, the education standards will always be on the downfall in the country due to such reasons that teachers can’t fix them alone.

Taking a strict action

Diana Stephano, 29, recalls how her teachers at Chang’ombe Secondary School used to do unexpected inspection to unveil students who sneak phones at school.

“More than seven years have passed since I completed my O-level education. During that moment, Whatsapp, Facebook and Instagram was not introduced but still students used to bring phones to chat with friends,” says Diana.

According to Diana, since her school management was strict and being caught with a phone was a ticket to be kicked out of school completely, students used to hide their phones in the bras, underpants as majority of them would wear sweaters all day long just to make sure teachers do not see their phones.

“It was never easy for students to use phones at school, however, there was always a way of coming in with the phones at school,” she adds.

In making things right, teachers would just come in classes unexpectedly, they would separate boys and girls and inspection by male and female teachers respectively would start, she says.

The inspection was thorough in a way female teachers would inspect one by one even in the bras and underpants, that is when majority of the students were caught and sent out of school.

It’s a serious problem

Mariam Hussein*, an A-level student at Benjamin Mkapa Secondary School says that, sneaking of phones has never been easy but still students do it for various reasons.

She says that, majority of them bring in phones from home for leisure. However, there are students who sneak in phones with good intention of using internet to get more materials.

“The challenge is how teachers can differentiate between those who misuse their phones and those who use their phones well,” says Mariam.

Commenting on how they sneak phones, she says that, majority of the students put their phones in their underpants while the rest would put them in the socks.

Adding to that, she says, teachers are not happy with students who come in with phones, however, it changes nothing for the students. From being suspended from school to being canned in public doesn’t inhibit the students from doing the wrong thing.

Swalehe Mhina, a form-three student at Kamene Secondary School says that students smuggle phones and use them during break hours. Students at his school use their phones mostly for online betting sessions.

“Students under the age of 18 are not allowed to bet. Phones make it easy for us to bet online. None of these people takes trouble to learn who is under-18 and who is not,” says Mhina.

Adding to that, he says smuggling phones has always been easy for them as they leave them to the students whose homes are close to school.

“This makes smuggling easy as the students who stay with the phones, charge them late night at their homes and get in school early before teachers are in so that they can keep the phones safe in the toilets,” Mhina reveals.

Lifting the ban

In 2014, afkinsider.com reported when the government announced the lift on the ban of mobile phones in secondary school premises to make room for an initiative designed to build positive attitude towards mathematics in secondary school students.

The then, Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Communication Science and Technology, John Mgondo, expressed confidence in the pilot project dubbed “Nokia Mobile Mathematics”.

He was quoted saying, “The project will help improve the students’ attitude towards the subject because they will be using exciting electronic devices,”

Ten schools namely Tambaza, Azania, Jangwani, Keko, Changombe, Zanaki, Kibasila, Isauke, Manzese and Kambanga were mentioned as part of the project beneficiaries with the project.

The project was conducted in partnership with Microsoft Tanzania, Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH), Tigo Tanzania and the University of Dar es Salaam Education Collage.

A visit to Tambaza and Manzese Secondary Schools revealed that, the use of mobile phones in schools never brought positive changes in the learning process.

John Edward*, the mathematics teacher at Tambaza Secondary School says that, students spend too much time on phones chatting with friends.

“We tried to allow mobile phones once a week, but after two weeks we had to ban the mobile phones usage to create a room for conducive learning environment,” says Edward.

Adding to that he says, it was never easy to stop students from smuggling phones as they have their own ways of bringing phones in until today.

He says there is a need for the government to create a special guideline that will give power to the teachers on the right way to punish students who use mobile phones during class hours.