No smartphones for young teens after 10pm: Japanese educators
Japanese educators have decided that young students are spending too much time on their iPhones and Samsung Galaxy smartphones.
The Board of Education in the Japanese city of Kasuga are asking junior high school students, who are mostly aged 13 to 15, to hand over their phones to adults between 10pm and 6am, reported Wall Street Journal.
Posters and leaflets have been sent to the city’s six junior high schools asking them to observe the ban, although no penalties have been set for violators.
The Japanese government has voiced concerns about excessive internet use among children.
Their website warns of the risks of such use, such as cyberbullying, leaks of private information and use of pay sites.
Concerned parents
An official told WSJ that the campaign was not the result of a specific incident but after discussions with parents concerned about their children's smartphone use.
A survey conducted last year showed that 52 per cent of junior high school students owned a handphone.
Among them, nearly half had a smartphone, compared to 2.6 per cent three years earlier.
In April, parents in Kariya, Aichi Prefecture were asked to confiscate their children’s phones at 9pm in a similar campaign.
We wonder how Singapore teens would respond to such a restriction.
Sources: Wall Street Journal
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