I am sure many handphones have been confiscated by teachers and principals, but I doubt that solves the problem.  Parents, sometimes, have the best of intentions in letting their children carry around handphones - it's easy to reach their children and they can indirectly keep an eye on their children this way. However, problems arise because in this world, not everyone is endowed with the same amount of freely available cash to spend on such gadgets. Many families which are living hand to mouth cannot afford to give their children such status symbols. So what happens is - their children find ways and means of laying their hands on a handphone. Some of these chaps work part-time - in McDonald's, for example - to get the cash. Others resort to getting a handphone by hook or by crook.

  This simply means Singapore schools have a dilemma in their hands. Should we change our school rules and allow our students to carry their handphones to school? If we do go ahead and allow the practice, will it lead to our boys and girls going astray by their resorting to theft to get their hands on such instruments? Will it lead to more incidents of students who are unable to afford handphones laying their hands on cash using underhand means in order to purchase a handphone? It's a problem that warrants looking at.

  In fact, a top school's website has an ongoing poll** - Should handphones be allowed in school?  The results of the poll, as of today, are as follows:

15% (38) of students said - "No, handphones should not be allowed in school"

77% (196) of students said - "Yes! But usage should only be after curriculum time"

8% (21) of students said - "Yes! But usage should be outside school compound"

  From the poll, it is obvious that the majority (77% + 8%) want schools to allow them to bring their handphones to school. Personally, I agree with them. Technology has made it possible for the changes sweeping our offices, schools and homes. In the near future, I believe there will be more such sweeping changes in other areas of our lives. While we cannot allow technology to rule us, we cannot deny the benefits that it has brought to us.

  I see no wrong in allowing our children to carry their handphones with them. As parents, we have greater control over where they are and what they are doing. If we can't be with them (as we are working), at least, we can be in touch with them wherever they may be. In this case, I think technology has helped us in keeping our minds on our work and off our children and at the same time keeping our minds on our children and off our work - alternately - without much bother.

**The poll appears at the time this article was published (23 Apr 2001). If you should read this article sometime in the future, and find that the link does not take you to the poll mentioned, it means that the poll has done its rounds and has been taken off the website.