Several parents also noted that students can bypass restrictions through their personal learning devices, which may allow access to Web versions of WhatsApp, Telegram and other platforms. Personal learning devices are school-prescribed laptops or tablets to aid secondary school students in their learning — only apps approved by the school can be installed.
Ms Michelle Goh, who has one son in Secondary 1, said students sometimes still secretly access messaging apps or games in class through these devices, or even take unnecessary toilet breaks to use their phones.
“It will solve part of the problem, but not the whole problem. It’s a good enough solution for now,” said Ms Goh. “If they secretly change tabs, it’s also very hard to monitor.”
TEACHERS: WE CAN’T BE EVERYWHERE AT ONCE
Secondary school teacher Polly, who has taught for more than 10 years, noted “a sense of growing anxiety” among parents, who often ask for advice on managing their children’s screen time amid their work schedules.
“They are worried about addiction, they are worried about obsessive compulsive behaviour regarding devices. They are also worried about what happens when the device is taken from the child … you get a lot of tantrums and anger management issues also arising when phones are confiscated,” she added.
There are also grey areas in the classroom setting. When students forget to bring their personal learning devices to school or fail to charge the devices, some teachers may allow them to use their phones to participate in the lesson, she said.
“While we generally discourage students from using their phones during lessons, in a matter of exigencies sometimes, we have no choice but to allow it,” said the teacher who declined to be named because she was not permitted to speak to the media.
