Bringing Phones Legally to School: Good or Bad?

So, they decided to allow kids to bring hi-tech gadgets to school now, huh? I bet most of Malaysia knew this by now; I found out a few days earlier, when my eyes fell on the surprising article on the third page of the Star newspaper. I could not believe my eyes. Was this really happening? I could’ve sworn I heard high-pitched voices screaming with joy as they threw their cell phones in the air. Then there are the low grumbles and rants of the seniors, who would not be able to taste the sweet freedom of holding their iPads in class, if the law was to be implemented in 2013. I realised that I was also unconsciously complaining about the decision being far too late for us Form Fivers (Even though I had my phone safely tucked away in a place where no phone-snatching wardens would ever think to look.) This was the second time I had felt dissatisfied; the first being the time I found out that school students didn’t have to pay for their train tickets. Think of all the money I could’ve saved if I had known a year earlier!

The Pros

 Well, now that the cat is out of the bag, many students (excluding myself) are excited for the next school year. The presence of hi-tech phones and gadgets on one’s self could greatly benefit you. For instance, say some tech savvy kid (e.g. you) was kidnapped by an evil adult. With a phone in his/her grasp, two things could be done. One, call or text your parents your whereabouts without being noticed by the kidnapper. Two, pray that someone has the common sense to find your phone/gadget via GPS (And hope that your battery will be able to last long enough.)

 Children also claim that with technology, class can be more effective, not to mention fun. Nowadays, there are sites on the Internet that either encourage kids to learn more, or help them revise their subjects. Though I must say, wasn’t there a cheaper way of influencing kids to study? Oh yeah, now I remember. It was whipping the child with the rattan.

It’s Not a Flawless Plan

 Nothing’s perfect in life. That includes this whimsical law. Not every teen on the country supports the idea of bringing devices to school. Some even strongly opposes it. And with good reason too; it’s too much a distraction for a learning tool. Most people find it hard to study at home, what with all the disturbances around them. Even I have to admit, had I not gone to boarding school, I’d have been glued to the TV and laptop alternately 24/7. By approving the law, we’re just giving them more distractions, and at a place where they should be focused.

 I can bet you that students would put more effort on updating their Facebook or Twitter every few minutes with boring, insignificant nonsense (‘My History teacher is currently writing things on the whiteboard.’ ‘LOL I’m tweeting in the toilet’) There would also be an increase of students taking pictures of their food at the canteen and uploading it online just for the sake of informing the public what they’re eating.

 Pftt. As if the public cares.

 I’m not opposing the implementation, but I’m not on the bandwagon too. I don’t really care about it anyways. Perhaps you'll be seeing me grumbling to my friends about how people make decisions a tad too late to benefit me.

Why Our Classroom Teacher Threw Out Our Nilam Out the Window

 Nilam, a book record has been considerably infamous in the eyes of students nationwide for its lack of significance. Most teens, in the right state of mind, would think of Nilam as a pain in the arse, and would rather opt to do something more beneficial, for instance sleeping. Although the school rules emphasizes the fact that filling in our book records are compulsory, both pupils and teachers have agreed to just randomly fill in numbers of books they supposedly read at the end of the year. It's a normal yearly routine, and it has been so for the past few years.

 Then I realised that it doesn't apply to my school.

 My whole class was shocked when my class teacher, Mrs N. (A newlywed.), arrived with a gigantic load of photocopied Nilam pages. She said something by the lines of 'You have to complete 80 pages to get a certificate that will be essential for your future'. So yeah, we went into panic mode. She gave us 3 pieces of paper each time she came to class (That's 12 entries.), and she'd expect us to send it the next day. You could see everyone's jaws on the floor. And so, fast forward a couple of weeks, with our wily ways, we managed to send it on time.

 Unfortunately, earlier this week, Mrs N. blew into a fit of rage (After a hour of teaching us Physics.) and practically threw half the class's time-consuming (?) book records out the window. Yep, you read it right. Now why did she do so?

WHAT WE DID TO COMPLETE OUR NILAM:
1) We wrote in non-novel material
Well, since the library is off-limits at night, some people wrote down text books and reference books, articles from magazines like Newsweek and newspapers, plus Reader's Digest etc.. And then to create the impression of the so-called books being thicker than one measly page, they decided to put in a 3-digit number in the 'Pages' section. Very smart.

2)We borrowed Form 1's Nilam books (Better yet, the Form 1 students themselves)
We simply jotted down what the Form 1's wrote. There was one person though, who took it to the next level and asked the Form 1 student to help him with his Nilam. A cruel and heartless way of getting things done, but effective nonetheless.

3)We simply created our own books
We were inspired by another class's way of doing things. They simply glanced at their surroundings and made them into storybook titles. There are many believable homemade book titles that could fool teachers, but there were some that was too stupid. One such example that still burns into my mind was this:

My Classroom's Air-conditioner

PAGES: 600++

 Pftt, like seriously, what kinda teacher wouldn't fall for that one? 

 A smart one, duh.

Some also took song titles, as if they thought it wasn't obviously fake (E.g: 'Just the Way You Are by Bruno Earth). Others just used names as authors, such as our superprincipal's name. She was particularly mad about a spelling mistake, though. 'Reald Dohl.' I wonder who could that be? I found out that it stemmed from my own silly handwriting, which led to a string of people incorrectly writing it. It's their fault though, for not recognizing such a famous author.

 After Mrs.N's burst, we finally did things the right way. By the right way, I meant most of them copied my Nilam (Since all of the books on my list were real.) I'm glad we got through this obstacle already. I do wish to see someone wirte a book about air-conditioners, though.