Eoulapa and Aufisü were debating on the spot whether the phone usage restrictions of their school should be eased.
Eoulapa: "During recess today, I saw the girl behind me crying. There was a teacher by her, and it looked like the girl had used her phone before she got busted. Initially I hadn't been that furious, but then I heard that teacher advise the girl, that she should contact teachers before reaching out to parents with her phone. I had a hunch that the girl was asking her parents to bring her medicine because she was feeling ill. And I was right. Isn't this a flagrant example of stringent regulations harming students?"
Aufisü: "Why do you think they're stringent? She could have just walked out of the classroom and sought help. As you said, a teacher intervened when she took out her phone. Therefore, a teacher was patrolling the floor. Although feeling ill is a contingency, it's not an excuse for students to violate rules. Unless, of course, you wanna be that 'rebellious brat' you've always deemed yourself to be, and go against these rules with all your might."
Eoulapa: "It seems you don't have a clue what teachers do during recess. Most of the time, only prefects will patrol the floor but not teachers. Besides, very often, only during the earliest parts of the recess will a teacher patrol. Thenceforth they'll be resting in the staff room. With this pattern in mind, isn't it understandable that students will not anticipate a teacher that could promptly offer help, and instead seek help on their own, with their phones? If you want to say that the nearest staffroom is 'just' two floors away, what makes you think that an ill person will risk falling off the stairs, just to find teachers?"
Aufisü: "I mean, you do have a point, but what about the other ramifications of loosened regulations? For example one might indulge in video gaming so much that they spend the entire recess staring at that screen. And what if they consequently develop addictions? Aggravated short-sightedness? Decreased socialisation? Students are already lacking social life from schoolwork!"
Eoulapa: "Of course every action has its merits and demerits. If you fixate on the banes and neglect the boons, nothing will look good to you. We don't even have the statistics to show that the mere 30~60 minutes of recess and lunchtime combined can spark addiction, when it is added into the screen time students get outside school. And I know you'll say that playing games at school is suboptimal. But there's a common counterargument - playing games aid stress relief. How can you counter this and show your point is best?"
Aufisü: "Well, you certainly know me well. But don't get cocky. I can explain exactly why. Even if playing video games relieve stress, what if students don't get enough and decide to play on lessons? What stops them from wanting a new game or continuing the current game? You know, some classmates of ours play games like PUBG, where rounds typically last longer than the 15-minute recess. Therefore, like what you said, I shall 'take into account both merits and demerits'. The demerits here limpidly outweighs the merits. Your logic is that less stress leads to less academic pressure, and bolstered academic motivation results, meaning better attention to lessons and thus better scores. But the playing of video games may detract from students' attention! Hence, the argument that video games relieve stress, in spite of being possibly true, does not support the point that students should be allowed to use their phones during downtime."
Eoulapa: "Precise reasoning there, I'll give you that. However, why not note that lots of classmates are already, in secret, keeping their phones on all day? And to add, the school itself permits the use of phones during recess on the covered playground, for takeaway ordering purposes. Is the abuse of phones on lessons now a widespread issue? No. I understand that some classmates may succumb to their will and thus veer off the lesson. But even so, the partial allowance of phone usage has not engendered anticipated issues. And I haven't addressed your socialisation argument yet. So,"
Eoulapa pointed at a boy next to him.
Eoulapa: "we all know that he and his 'bros' play on their phones during lunch. And we all know that the bond between them is potent, seriously potent. How can you deny that video games contributes to socialisation, instead of distracting from it?"
Aufisü: "Well then how can you prove that it doesn't detract from socialisation?"
And the bell rang. Lunchtime was over.
~Written 20/10/23 12:44, on a bus, then while walking.