It is deeply disturbing that a hand phone should have been the cause of the death of a student. The news report said a 14-year-old at a leading Buddhist girls’ school in Colombo had taken her life after being reprimanded and threatened by her teachers for bringing a mobile phone to school.
These days mobile phones are used at almost all levels of society, from corporate executives to domestic helpers. You see people using these phones in cars, buses, trains, taxis, in offices, on the street, and even in places of religious worship.
Scientists invent things for the good of society. It is no fault of science if we misuse the innovations and gadgets that scientists give us. Abused inventions range from the atom bomb down to chewing gum, Ajinomoto (monosodium glutamate) and “siri-siri” bags.
The mobile phone is a boon that has also become a nuisance. It is a boon because it allows instant and convenient communication from wherever you are.
It is a nuisance because you cannot walk on the pavement without someone using a mobile phone bumping into you because he is too busy talking and not looking where he is going.When drivers of vehicles use mobile phones while driving, they become a dangerous threat on the roads. On buses, mobile phone users disturb the other passengers by shouting to hear and be heard.
Let’s hope we don’t read or hear any more stories of mobile phones serving as instruments of death.
Arul
Now, what do you
have to say, IGP?
Banning mobile phones in schools is going to cause a serious problem.
Now, if a schoolgirl (or for that matter a schoolboy) is about to be raped how is s/he to photograph the assailant?
Over to you Inspector General of Police!
Nihal Ratnayake,
Dehiwela |
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