€9m on phone pouches is money well spent

GO OUT for a meal, take a trip on public transport, even take a walk – what is the common denominator? Everyone will be on some mobile device or other.

Thanks to Steve Jobs, the entire world has become addicted to using mobile devices. We can't let them out of our sight for a second and, thanks to them, many have lost the art of communication.

First it was the mobile phone. It was almost seen as a status symbol if you had one. You were someone who needed to be able to contact others or be contacted at all times.

As the cost and size of using such devices dropped, the next big thing was text messaging. Even the providers of phones were promoting the use of text messaging. Suddenly everyone was a comic – jokes were flying around the world for sport and if you weren't in on the act, you were a nobody.

Next came the phone camera and suddenly everyone was a photographer. God love wedding photographers, as they had to contend with everyone in the church capturing that magic moment when a couple said ‘I do’. It got so bad that those conducting the service had to issue a warning before the ceremony for everyone to remain seated and allow the professional to do his or her job.

Soon after, it was the selfie, where everyone, irrespective of size, looks or dress code believed it was their duty to send us photos of themselves – thousands of them, mostly rubbish – so that we could 'share' whatever experience they were having.

Annoying it may be, but you could choose to ignore all the hullabaloo if you wanted. Then as the cost of using mobile devices plummeted, along came the horror of social media.

Let's be honest, it has totally changed our lives, and not all for the good. It appears that nothing is sacred anymore. Everyone believes they have a right to share, and worse still, have an opinion on everything and everyone.

Some also believe they have a right to spew their tripe anonymously, be it true or false, and damn the consequences or how their lies may affect the lives of others.

Sadly, this trend has grown into a full-blown way of life, to such an extent that people have felt they had no option but to take their own lives.

As with every new phenomenon, it takes time for the scientists to actually work out why we react the way we do. But now we know that it is not necessarily a good thing to be connected or have access to these mobile phones 24/7, especially if you are young and vulnerable.

That is why I welcome the inclusion in Budget 25 of €9 million for the purchase of special phone pouches for secondary schools and in doing so make these places of learning phone-free.

I know there are plenty of categories within the education system where €9 million could be spent. Class sizes are too big, there are not enough school places for students, there are thousands of students with special needs, the capitation grant for schools is too small – the list is endless.

But if one child, just one, gets to enjoy a few hours a day without the torment of something vile appearing on social media about them, I believe it is worth it.

We can be glib and say we should teach that young person to be strong and turn the damn phone off, but that is just being foolish and they will never do that.

Yes, the phone goes back on when school ends and the problems that were there before school started will still be there, but after a few hours’ rest, perhaps that young person is mentally refreshed enough to face up to whatever her peers have posted online. I say her, because unfortunately, while not exclusive to young girls, we know it is that category which is most affected.

It is wonderful that we can all enjoy the luxury of having instant access to news and sporting events around the world as they happen, being able to shop online without having to contend with queues or rude shop assistants, ordering takeouts at all hours of the day and night, and yes, make the odd phone call to a friend or loved one at ungodly hours of the day or night, no matter what part of the world we are in. We can even face-time, or as in my case recently, flip the image of my phone while face-timing with my son so that he could see why I was not able to connect to the wi-fi in the apartment I was staying in, ؘsomething I still haven't quite got my head around – pardon the pun.

But I would willingly rewind the clock to a time when saying you are away on holiday actually meant nobody could contact you without going to extreme lengths if it meant online bullying never became a thing.

There is no place for a bully, either physical or online and if that €9 million in Budget 25 helps in just a tiny way to tackle that trend, I am all for it.