College smashes mobiles
By Techgirl

Cell phones have made our lives easier in a million ways and more. But as with any technology there are a few negatives – chatting on the mobile while driving, work intruding into personal lives, and sometimes distracting youngsters while in school and college.

There is a two pronged approach to controlling the misuse of mobiles – education and tighter laws.  If you are caught talking and driving you face a fine in most Indian States. Most schools and colleges have some control of their usage. TV channels run in your face ads showing the risk of talking while driving.

But this two pronged approach has had limited success in most cases.

How about something radical to really teach students not to use phones while at college? How about smashing their phones in front of their eyes to teach them a good lesson?

India’s Silicon Valley Bangalore plays host to the Bharath Education Society (BES) which has started a number of highly regarded educational institutes including one for Technology.  These BES colleges were initially targeted at the social and economically backward sections of rural India.

BES College’s motto is ‘Love, Joy and Service’.  On its website it says it hopes to ‘reach the unreached’, ‘include the excluded’ and give the ‘best to the last’ focusing on the rural mass.

Despite such noble ideals, it has a strict no mobile phone policy on the campus.  Bangalore Mirror is reporting:

“
Most schools and colleges in the city have banned use of mobile phones, with some snatching away the students’ gizmos and returning them after a few days. However, in BES College in Jayanagar 4th Block, once the cellphones are seized, they are permanently ‘out of reach’ of the students.

Many students have alleged the seized mobile phones are lost forever as the management would destroy them.

“The mobiles are confiscated from us, which is okay. But they also destroy it right in front of our eyes by slamming them on the floor,” said a PU student on condition of anonymity. Many students concurred. “Around 60 phones have been destroyed this way and we have remained silent,” said another student.
“

While the punishment is certainly excessive and bizarre, this is one way of ensuring no student gets her latest iPhone to show off to her girlfriends. Perhaps the traffic cops can do the same to stop drivers chatting on the phone.

Techgoss note:  Techgirl is a senior Tech journalist who reports on the IT, KPO and KPO Sectors for a leading media house.  In her spare time, she dabbles in satire in her blog http://techgirltalk.blogspot.com