A teachers' union has called for a ban on students using picture-messaging phones on school premises during school hours and inclusive of breaks.The Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI) is demanding that sanctions, including the confiscation of phones for a period of time, be imposed "as a matter of urgency" to deal with the growing use of the picture phones.
The TUI has already written to the Department of Education and Science and to management authorities at national level to ensure that they advise boards of management and VECs to put in place "new policies and procedures".
According to the February edition of TUI News, schools have been caught off guard by the burgeoning use by students of phones with picture-messaging capabilities.
The TUI warns that such phones might be used to compromise the professional integrity and reputation of teachers and other school staff or the personal integrity of students.
These phones could also be used to intimidate or bully students, it is claimed, or could be used to disseminate inappropriate and possibly pornographic images.
Another potential misuse of the phones is the transmission of information during exams.
According to the TUI, there is also a likely increase in the incidence of theft arising from the use of such phones and the possible use of picture phones to "engineer opportunistic litigation".
The TUI says some management is being "defeatist" in believing that a prohibition would not be enforceable or would demand considerable administrative time.