Effects of Mobile Phone on Students of Secondary School in the School Premises.

Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of
a teenager and beginner youth derive knowledge through learning. A secondary school student
is expected to be preparing for his/her first school leaving certificate and should be ready to
pass must relevant subjects with honors.


The secondary school students are those students of post-primary studies or as described
above. It is at this stage of academics that students lay the foundation of their future. No matter
what the student wants to be in life, the way is paved at this stage that is why most errors which
are not corrected in secondary school lives with most students till the rest of their lives. Building
people with global passion are deeply rooted in this stage of education.

A mobile phone (also called mobile, cellular telephone, or cell phone) is an electronic device
used for two-way radio telecommunication over a cellular network of base stations known as cell
sites. Mobile phones differ from cordless telephones, which only offer telephone service within
limited range through a single base station attached to a fixed land line, for example within a
home or an office.

A mobile phone allows its user to make and receive telephone calls to and from the public
telephone network which includes other mobiles and fixed-line phones across the world. It does
this by connecting to a cellular network owned by a mobile network operator.

In addition to being a telephone, modern mobile phones also support many additional services,
and accessories, such as SMS (or text) messages, e-mail, Internet access, gaming, Blue-tooth
and infrared short range wireless communication, camera, MMS messaging, MP3 player, radio
and GPS. Low-end mobile phones are often referred to as feature phones, whereas high-end
mobile phones that offer more advanced computing ability are referred to as smart phones.

The first hand held mobile phone was demonstrated by Dr. Martin Cooper of Motorola in 1973,
using a handset weighing 2 kg (4.4 lb). Motorola released the first commercially available mobile
phone, the DynaTAC 8000x in 1983. In the year 1990, 12.4 million people worldwide had
cellular subscriptions. By the end of 2009, less than 20 years later, the number of mobile cellular
subscriptions worldwide reached approximately 4.6 billion, 370 times the 1990 number,
penetrating the developing economies and reaching the bottom of the economic pyramid.


SIDE EFFECTS OF OWNING A PHONE BY STUDENTS:

HEALTH HAZARDS:
Over the past decade the world has seen rapid growth in cell phone users. Everyone from older
adults to kids in high school seem to carry one glued to their ears, without understanding the
possible health risks associated with the use of cellular telephones.
To begin with, a recent scientific journal published in 2007 titled Long term use of cellular
phones and brain tumors, concluded after assessing results from many different studies that
use of cell phones for more then 10 years does show increased risk for acoustic neuroma and
glioma. Adding that the risk is highest for ipsilateral exposure, meaning tumor on the same side
of the brain where phone mostly held.
Research scientists behind this journal assert that most studies to date on cell phone use and
brain tumors have been mostly conducted with an insufficiently long latency period. This journal
report gives excellent reviews of other studies and evidence of data entry errors, systematic
bias and mathematical errors within those studies.
The effect mobile phone radiation has on human health is the subject of recent interest and
study, as a result of the enormous increase in mobile phone usage throughout the world (as of
June 2009, there were more than 4.3 billion users worldwide. Mobile phones use
electromagnetic radiation in the microwave range, which some believe may be harmful to
human health. A large body of research exists, both epidemiological and experimental, in non-
human animals and in humans, of which the majority shows no definite causative relationship
between exposure to mobile phones and harmful biological effects in humans. This is often
paraphrased simply as the balance of evidence showing no harm to humans from mobile
phones, although a significant number of individual studies do suggest such a relationship, or
are inconclusive. Other digital wireless systems, such as data communication networks,
produce similar radiation.
The World Health Organization, based upon the majority view of scientific and medical
communities, has stated that cancer is unlikely to be caused by cellular phones or their base
stations and that reviews have found no convincing evidence for other health effects. The WHO
expects to make recommendations about mobile phones in 2010. Some national radiation
advisory authorities have recommended measures to minimize exposure to their citizens as a
precautionary approach.
At least some recent studies, however, have found an association between cell phone use and
certain kinds of brain and salivary gland tumors. Lennart Hardell and other authors of a 2009
meta-analysis of 11 studies from peer-reviewed journals concluded that cell phone usage for at
least ten years "approximately doubles the risk of being diagnosed with a brain tumor on the
same ("ipsilateral") side of the head as that preferred for cell phone use."


ACADEMIC DISTRACTIONS:
Some students have the habit of keeping their mobile phones on during classes and studies,
even in the library. The do so for their classmates to know their latest ringing tones, thereby
distracting other students, even the teacher in the class. Some even put it in vibration and are
distracted by the vibration from calls during classes and school hours, diverting their
concentration on who is calling at the moment.
This "mobile phone" with different memory capacity is used to download and store several
music of different lyrics and tones. The songs are being listened every now and then with the
use of earpiece in the school and at home forgetting their academic work which is supposed to
be their priority. Some even play these songs in the class, distracting the serious and minded
students, while the constant use of the earpiece makes it difficult for some of them to
understand conversations with low tones, and shout while talking with the aim to be heard. The
academic distraction is getting worse by the day because those that don't own a mobile phone
are eager to get one. Once a student brings a book to study, and a call comes, that is the end of
the study after the call, because their concentration will be on the call answered.
One of the several factors that that have distracted these upcoming leaders of our generation
has a lot to do with mobile phones. Most students spend hours playing different games in the
phone namely real football games, soccer games, snakezia, car race, puzzle games etc. They
enjoy these games to an extent of neglecting their academic work, assignments, homework etc.
They even discuss these games at school encouraging others how interesting the games were,
storing games in the memory instead of their studies. Analysis of performing an art/creative
work and playing mobile phone games in twenty-nine secondary schools revealed that 50% can
play mobile phone games very well, 27% can do their art/creativity work well while 23% can
neither do the art/creative work nor play games well. In order words, the academic works suffers
it most.

COST:
The cost of purchasing a mobile phone is expensive to students of secondary schools that have
little or no earning source. Most of them prefer buying phones with their school fees to paying it.
When this mobile phone is bought, the student has to recharge it and make calls, send text
messages, browse and download some files. All these things are money which can be used for
their academic pursuit and/or other essential and important things. The cost of repairing and
replacing damaged/lost ones are not left out, because, the fact remains that once a student has
started using phones, it must be repaired or replaced when damaged or lost. Check the cost of
recharging a mobile phone daily for one month, not to talk of a year. All these are unnecessary
expenses for students that are being trained by someone.


NEGATIVE BEHAVIOR IN CHILDREN:
Once a child (student) started using a mobile phone, the numbers will be distributed to different
kinds of people who will call and the student will receive. Most of these phones are multi-media
in nature such that they download and watch all sorts of pornographic pictures and movies,
which curiosity will allow them practice and know what it is all about.
Once a student started using mobile phone, it is an alert for opposite sex that he/she is ripe for
sexual relationship. Naturally, there people who cannot speak to their mates face-to-face, using
mobile phone becomes a good medium to express their feelings. Most of these students' calls
and messages are all about "I love you, crazy about you, miss you and the likes of it" once a
new "love" is found, it takes almost everything in the person, e.g. the thinking, sleepless nights,
even financial spending. For some, the phone is the used for formalize arrangements and
appointments. With their phones, they know and observe all the happenings in the town like
parties, night clubs etc.
Telling lies has become a common thing to students with their mobile phones. Imagine a
student in another place for days, told the parents that she went on excursion, which resulted to
pregnancy after some months, forgetting that "all liars shall have their part in the lake of fire that
burns with brimstone" according to biblical injunction. Some of them are too proud of
themselves when they have expensive phones with them, not knowing that "pride goes before a
fall" some practice stealing in collaboration with lie to buy/ replace their phones. Some other
atrocities like kidnapping, stealing etc are being carried out by some students with their mobile
phones.

Most students are unable to concentrate on their studies because of the free calls (night calls)
from different networks. These calls start 12:30am and end 4:30-5:00am, and some students
make these calls daily, how can they learn when they are dizzy or sleeping in the class? How
can they be mentally balanced health wise when they don't sleep normally like students? Some
of them risk themselves making these calls outside the room because of the distractions to
others in the same room. The hours spent in making these calls, if utilized, can make the
student emerge the best in academic activities.


EXAM MALPRACTICE:
Most of the students don't study again because of the points mentioned above; rather indulge in
exam malpractice during internal and external examinations. Some make use of the calculator
in the mobile phone, while others store some information in it. The worst of it is that others use it
to send objective answers to those in the examination hall, which may not be correct at the end
of the day. This can end the student's career if caught, as exam malpractice is a punishable
offense.

ABUSING THE USE OF ENGLISH:
The constant use of text messages on the mobile phone, contributes to the poor usage of
proper English by secondary student, evaluating the present performance of secondary school
student on English is poor since the usage of mobile phone and these need to be critically
looked into.


In summary, mobile phones have been of help because information is power. When a student is
not informed, he/she will be deformed, and when deformed, the student cannot perform. I
encourage students of secondary schools to make calls at phone boot, use their parents, family
or relative's communication device to communicate rather than owning one because the bad
part of mobile phones to students in the school premises are more than the good part.





















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