Japanese children today have access to more communications technology than ever before. Just a generation or so ago, children had to ask their parents to use the phone, but now they have smartphones and various other devices with wi-fi connectivity that they can use around the clock.
Except for, that is, in Kariya, Aichi Prefecture, which has announced that there will be a smartphone curfew in which all elementary and middle school students will be banned from using their smartphones after 9pm. The city hopes that this will cause a reduction in bullying and other issues among schoolchildren.
But netizens are unconvinced. And not least because there is no clear way for the city to enforce the ban.
What do you think? Will the idea be effective in preventing bullying and getting children to disconnect at the end of the day? Or is 24-hour connectivity simply a fact of modern life?
From 47 News:
Ban On Smartphones After 9pm Targeted At All Elementary And Middle Schools In Kariya City, Aichi Prefecture
All 21 elementary and middle schools in Kariya city, Aichi prefecture will begin a trial stopping students using their cell phones after 9pm from April. It is said to be a measure to prevent troubles such as bullying on the free messaging service LINE and disturbances to day-to-day life.
The Ministry of Education, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) has up until now told every regional Board of Education that elementary and middle school students should be banned from bringing items to school as a general rule. The Cabinet Office has called for household rules through pamphlets but MEXT has said that “it is rare for an area to go as far as to attempt to create a usage limit”‘
This is a measure proposed by the “student protection association” of Kariya city, which was created by the Board of Education, schools in the city and police.
Comments from Twitter:
紀:
Aichi prefecture has long been infamous for this doing this kind of idiotic thing, it’s still like this even now.
イケメン@＊/＊＊おやすみっき:
I get the feeling it would be fine at 11pm or so
Noriyuki Taniguchi:
In that case it would have been better not to let them get a phone in the first place…
コクブカメラ:
I think adults could also prevent disturbances to their own day-to-day lives if they banned smartphones and computers after 9pm…!
shan＠M3はM20bですよ!:
What would kids these days do if you snatched their information appliances?
有栖川礼子:
Has it finally come to this? Every day I feel that there is no choice but to do something like this.
イチローくん:
I definitely think a time restriction should be introduced but rather than saying “after X o’clock”, I think it would be better to have a system where you can only use it for up to X hours per day. Like if you used it for more than 2 hours the internet would be cut off or something.
西岡:
I think if I had kids I’d give them a cheap and low speed SIM smartphone and switch off our home Wi-Fi at midnight.
Echizenya Hiroyuki:
What a stupid rule. There’s no enforceability.
Shinnosuke Takeda:
Huh? Was the person who came up with this an idiot or something?
あめくま:
I know how scary the internet can be and I’ve never understood how it became normal to let elementary school students have cell phones.
砂糖入り:
That was an interesting news story. Rather than pinning down the source of bullying, they’re first doing things like cutting off their means of communication.
ふみ:
Is there any point?
自称海尉:
Will it be effective? I think the original problem wasn’t the phones.
つる:
Is there a legal basis?
中村竹七:
I think this is good. At least for elementary school students.
たりちぱ＠・ｘ・＠ノ:
Right! And if we ban living, bullying won’t happen right!?
uru:
How? And moreover, recently lots of elementary and middle school students are using LINE on their iPod Touch so it’s basically pointless to ban “smartphones”.
つ(*ﾟーﾟ) ◆204504bySE:
A load of kids would stop coming home w
