Rights watchdog advises against ban on use of mobile phones in schools

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) said Wednesday it has asked a local high school to lift a ban on the use of mobile phones by students in school.

The state human rights watchdog said the ban on the use of mobile phones at the high school, whose name was withheld, infringes on its students' general right to freedom of action and freedom of communication.

The school's students are allowed to possess cell phones on campus but are completely prohibited from using them, according to the NHRCK.

If students want to use a mobile phone during breaks or lunch time, they have to ask for a teachers' permission. The use of mobile phones during class time is only possible under the guidance of a teacher.

Due to such strict rules, the school has reported 304 cases of demerit points being imposed for the use of mobile phones in a period of three months, prompting the concerned students to appeal to the NHRCK.

The watchdog agency has said many times before some schools' bans on both the possession and use of mobile phones on campus by collecting them from students is a violation of their fundamental rights. But its latest recommendation refers to only a ban on the use of mobile phones at school. (Yonhap)