Beginning from the next school year students will not be allowed to use cell phones at the majorit of public middle and high schools in Osaka Prefecture…according to planned new regulations by the Osaka prefectural government. Schools in the cities of Osaka and Sakai are excepted as they do not fall under the jurisdiction of the prefectural government. The ban is expected to be implemented gradually by March. It will be the first time a prefectural government has moved to regulate possession and cell phone use in schools. School boards will request that schools institute penalties for violations of the rules, such as confiscation of the phones or having a student’s parent come to the school to collect the phones.
Reasons given for the planned new regulations are the rising number of bullying cases and incidents linked to social networking Web sites accessible by cell phones. Another reason given was that students less the more dependent they became on cell phones.
Source:
Osaka Prefecture eyes cellphone use ban in schools
EDUCATION IN JAPAN COMMUNITY Blog 