Modern addictions

by Ena and Anka (Croatia)

A Tragedy in the Gym

A few days ago one HOK girl forgot her mobile phone in the school gym.
The P.E. teacher put it in his pocket hoping somebody would come to pick it up and told the kids to spread that news in school.
The phone was ringing and ringing during next five P.E. classes. What a disaster! The teacher was frustrated and nervous. The students were angry because they had to stop playing a game. Many times the teacher looked up the high ceiling whispering something.

I talked to the teacher and here's the interview.

I: Your opinion about mobile phones, please.

T: It is not possible to escape the mobile phones. I can see and hear them everywhere: in streets, in restaurants, on buses, trains, at theatres, at cinemas...everywhere. Even in the classrooms and even in the gym! I can see the children during school breaks walking around the school corridors with their mobile phones on their ears shouting to someone out there. Their heads are full of that buzzing and ringing sounds and harm their concentration in learning.

I: Why that obsession over mobile phones?

T: Well, I think they served as a symbol of status at the beginning. Now, when almost every child possesses that smaller and smaller piece of plastic, it has become a symbol of popularity among teenagers – more calls a day, more popular you are!

I: Students in the HOK have become addicted to mobile phones. I've seen many different phones with lots of options and the teenagers even compete in their design, ring tones, games, face covers. Why is that so important to them?

T: I'm not quite sure but I think they want to show their personality, they have a need to be different from others, they don't hesitate to show their own admiration to that device, they care about the phones in a way they wouldn't care about a real pet. Teenagers love their mobile phones.!

I: The students have been blamed for using mobile phones during classes. What's your opinion about that problem?

T: The school pedagogue told me that some children are becoming addicted to their mobile phones. They can't focus on their school activities and it's bad for them. I know that many parents want their children to have a mobile phone because they believe their children are safer and can call them if a trouble appears.

I: Have you got a mobile phone? Do your children have too?

T: Yes, I have, but it's switched off while I'm at work. My two children have one phone and they carry it only when they go out in the evening, not to school.

I: Thank you. That was very kind of you.

I also talked to the girl who left her mobile phone in the gym. Luckily, she got it back at the end of the day.

"Oh, I'm so happy, I've found my mobile phone, you know, I can't live without it, I have to have it with me all the time. Look! Nineteen people called me while it was in the gym. Nineteen! Can you believe it? Now, I must send them messages, they are waiting... I must do it right now...Oh, it's ringing again!" (talking for a few minutes)

She didn't notice when I went away.
I know she has difficulties in learning at school. Partly, because she is interested only in her phone and nothing else. She was so depressed the other day when her mobile phone turned off.
And last but not the least, she strongly believes that she is very popular because she sends so many messages all the time.