Human Rights Commission: "Restrictions on Mobile Phone Use in High School Dormitories Must Be Lifted"

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Jo] The National Human Rights Commission announced on the 30th that it recommended 32 principals of national and public high schools in the Honam region to stop confiscating or restricting the use of mobile phones of students residing in dormitories and to revise related regulations. It also instructed the superintendents of education in each city and province to supervise and monitor whether the schools appropriately implement the Commission's recommendations.

Earlier, during the investigation of a petition case, the Commission confirmed numerous instances of excessive restrictions on possession or use of mobile phones by students in high school dormitories and conducted an ex officio investigation targeting 150 national and public high schools with dormitories located in Gwangju Metropolitan City, Jeollabuk-do, and Jeollanam-do. The investigation revealed that among the 150 schools, 46 confiscated or restricted the use of mobile phones. Furthermore, many of these schools collected students' mobile phones before bedtime and returned them during morning roll call, citing reasons such as "guaranteeing the right to sleep" and "guaranteeing the right to learn." There were also 26 schools that imposed disadvantages on students who refused to surrender their mobile phones.

The Commission viewed that imposing penalties or disadvantages such as dormitory expulsion on students over mobile phone use is not an appropriate guidance method. It judged that students should learn self-restraint to prevent negative impacts on their studies the following day caused by using mobile phones late at night. The Commission stated, "Since the dormitory is like a home to students, an environment where they can live more freely should be created," adding, "If possession or use of mobile phones, an important means of connecting and communicating with the outside world, is restricted, the harm to students will not be insignificant."

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