DAMMAM, 13 October 2004 — The Ministry of Education has issued a strong warning banning the use of camera phones in schools. Elementary, intermediate and high schools are all included in the ban.
The punishment for breaking the new rule is a two-year ban from school. This could in certain circumstances be doubled. The punishment also attracts a deduction from the student’s behavior points score.
The director of student affairs in the Ministry of Education in the Eastern Province, Fahd Al-Salloum, told Asharq Al-Awsat that cell phones were banned from use inside schools. “Students are not allowed to carry ordinary cell phones with them. Cell phones with cameras are no exception,” he said.
Teachers, supervisors and even school principals are included in the comprehensive ban. “Inspectors from the ministry are surveying schools to make sure that this law is applied,” he said.
Al-Salloum denied any student had been punished for carrying cell phones until now. He did not specify what type of punishment teachers would face if they were caught with camera-fitted phones. They would be brought before a special committee if and when such cases arose.
Al-Salloum said there are awareness campaigns and information projects both inside and outside schools to educate students about the appropriate use of this technology. The technology, he added, is not wrong in itself, but the way some people use this is bad.
Students reacted bitterly to the proposed punishment. Most said that they would not be intimidated by the threatening style used by the Education Ministry. One student said that the ministry should advise students about the use of camera phones instead of threatening them with draconian punishment.
