According to the NHRCK on Friday, the principal of a middle school in Gyeonggi Province has been advised to lift a ban on cell phone use during school hours after a student filed a petition asking the policy to be overturned. (Image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, Nov. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — The National Human Rights Commission of Korea has said that all-out cell phone bans at school are a violation of the freedom of communication.
According to the NHRCK on Friday, the principal of a middle school in Gyeonggi Province has been advised to lift a ban on cell phone use during school hours after a student filed a petition asking the policy to be overturned.
It was reported that the school in question has been confiscating cell phones from students during the morning assembly at 9 a.m. and returning them when the last class ends at 4 p.m.
While the school says the cell phone ban was designed to help students and teachers, the NHRCK said that the ban needs to be more detailed, such as restricting cell phone use only in class.
“Educational institutions should try to refrain from adopting unilateral cell phone bans and come up with rules through discourse with students, and ensure that students live up to them on their own,” the NHRCK said.
According to data from the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education last year, nearly 12 percent of elementary school students, 88.3 percent of middle school students, and 56.5 percent of high school students in the region said they had had their phones confiscated at school.
Against this background, the NHRCK urged the superintendent of the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education to revise rules at some of the schools in the region.
Hyunsu Yim (hyunsu@koreabizwire.com)
