Should students’ laptops be allowed in school?

Recently, I conducted a debate in a year eight class in the Cambridge programme where learners debated on whether schools should allow students to have their laptops or not. It was a hot and explosive debate. The proposers emerged winners because they convinced me about the benefits of having laptops at school. It was very exciting to see how young boys and girls in the range of 11 to 13 years could articulate issues about ICT in education. I wished I had invited the school administrators to listen to the arguments of the students as regards the use of laptops. The arguments of the proposers of the motion clearly indicated that there are certain essential things that we deny the young people at school without justification. One of the proposers of the motion argued that he does not understand why students whose parents can afford laptops are not allowed to use them at school yet the world has gone digital. He further stated that the use of pens and voluminous books is outdated in a way that it is hard for them to keep all their books for lesson notes for a long period of time. He stressed that it is tiring to copy the lesson notes afresh in case some of the books get lost but the computer has backups that guarantee safety of data. Another proposer argued that most schools do not have sufficient computers and learners always scramble for the few machines that are available in the laboratory whenever it is time for them to study ICT or do research. According to him, having limited access to the computer undermines their efforts to do research and to learn more about computer applications. Honestly, I could not deny the proposers victory because their points were stronger and more realistic than the ones of the opposers’ side. Proposers punched holes in the policy of prohibiting students’ computers at school. I think that schools, most especially the ones with students from affluent families, should be flexible enough on this matter since the parents can afford computers for their children. As long as the parents agree to pay an extra fee to cover the maintenance costs of the machines and to enable school authorities to increase on the band width of the Internet, I do not see any reason why the current policy on electronic appliances can’t be revised. The technological advancement in the world today calls for a review of the facilities that are used in schools. I listened carefully to the opposition side and I was able to reflect on their arguments against the use of laptops in school. Their emphasis was on the misuse of the laptops by the students in case they are given the opportunity to use them but they did not dispute the fact that the items are useful. I think school authorities should put in place mechanisms of regulating the students’ use of the laptops. For instance, all the students’ computers should be kept in a restricted room which can only be accessed during the time for ICT or research for the other subjects. T he students whose parents may not afford buying the computers should be the ones to use the few school computers that may be available in the computer laboratory. I am told that the internet service providers can switch off some social media platforms like Facebook for certain places for some time if the subscribers request them to do so. This can help to keep the learners focused on academic work most of the time. Their access to the harmful social media platforms can be limited with this arrangement in place. Otherwise, students need to have enough exposure to the various education websites to widen their scope of understanding what we teach them in class. The writer is a teacher.