CAMERA MOBILE: BOON OR BANE?

Camera equipped mobiles are the talk of the town. Like a double-edged sword, the discerning user could put it to good use. The other to abuse and blackmail. BY MELBA MERGULHAO-CARVALHO ANTAO.

MOBILES ARE TO be used not abused.   First came a tabloid’s front page centering on video footage of Bollywood hotties Kareena Kapoor and her beau Shaheed Kapur apparently smooching in an elite Mumbai restaurant.  There were cries of violation of the right to privacy as the short clip was shown on constant rotation on the country’s news channels. Have we stopped to think how damaging this is to our children and adolescents?

Close on the heels of the K-K smooching,  the nation was  shocked at the far more graphic phone camera clip taken by a 17-year-old student of a Delhi Public School in which he had sex with his 17-year-old girl friend. The clip was then circulated among students by passing it from one camera phone to the other.  Also the clip was put up for sale on the Internet. The school authorities woke up – better late than never – and apprehended the parents and students and promptly banned mobile phones on their premises.

Other abuses of the mobile have come to light.  Cell phones are used by students to cheat in tests and examinations by text messaging each other the answers.  Students have taken camera phones in the locker/wash rooms at the request of male classmate/s to take pictures of girls in various stages of undress. 

There are no figures on how many of the mobile handsets are camera enabled, but there are a total of 45 million mobile telephones in India, far surpassing the nation’s fixed line connections.

What’s the scene in Goa’s schools and colleges? Here are some comments from the heads of institutions and from the service industry.

Susan de Sousa, Director, Youth Affairs, Govt. Of Goa

If you start writing about it, people who don’t know about it will come to know about it. So let sleeping dogs lie.   Don’t highlight this subject lest youngsters begin to misuse this tiny gadget.  Remember how, after a serial about ragging was telecast nationally, ragging spread with a vengeance in colleges across India. So let’s nip this misuse in the bud.

Rest assured girls in Goa’s sports complex have separate change rooms with security cover. Cameras - mobile or otherwise - may have entered the change rooms to check on drug abuse, not otherwise, so far at least. I hope, in the future, no one stoops so low.  

Newman Fernandes, Principal, St. Xavier’s College, Mapusa

We don’t allow mobile phones in the classroom not even in the college campus. We have incorporated this rule in our college prospectus as we endeavour to inculcate discipline in our students; but there are many who break the rule, isn’t it?  If we find a student with the mobile, we confiscate it immediately for about a month or more.

I don’t see why parents should give their college-going children a mobile when we have installed coin phones in the premises for use in emergencies. 

Oscar Gonsalves, Administrator, Sharada Mandir, Miramar

It’s against our school rule to use a mobiles in the premises but teachers were allowing the students to carry mobiles, but they were to be handed to the teacher.  Now we have completely stopped mobiles in school.  In our code of conduct we have stated that there would be no mobiles in school and if the children want to contact their parents in an emergency, they may use the front office phone.  Of course, we don’t check their school bags as we expect the child to differentiate between right from wrong.  We must learn from the Delhi experience.

S. L. Sardesai, Principal, Dempo’s, Miramar

So far we have not given any attention to this issue. But our students don’t keep their mobiles switched on in the classroom, though many students carry mobiles in the college premises.  Our students are well behaved and matured and don’t abuse the mobile, only use it.  What happened in the north may not be relevant in Goa. Our students respect the college authorities and comply with the rules of the college and take correction in the right spirit.  So we have not banned mobiles in our college because our students are well brought up and the credited goes to the parents, school and college.  We sincerely believe, when you respect students they reciprocate in equal measure.

Sr. Emma, Principal, Carmel College, Nuvem

I’m very strict and have banned mobiles in the college – neither in the lecture rooms nor on the campus.  Students are not industrialists nor are they politicians that they require to be called every now.  Besides, they are only in the college for approx. four hours and there are many phones in the college and can easily contact their parents

If parents were strict too, then this problem would not arise.  A mobile is not a necessity but a loss of time and money.

Teresa Almeida, Principal, Manovikas, Margao

We don’t allow mobiles with students.  They are not needed because coin phones are available in the school premises.  The use and misuse of gadgets depends on each individual. A mobile is very handy but we must remember it’s a tool to be used well not abused.  The camera phone, if misused, will be down right immoral because the privacy of a person is violated. The problem does not lie with the mobile phone, but in the value system.  If you have a good value system, you don’t do the wrong thing. Good or bad values are picked up at home as children identify with parents and therefore they pick up what they see at home. 

On the other hand, parents try their best, but it’s harder to bring up children today than before. Our young ones lack kindness to animals, courtesy on the roads, courtesy to strangers, faith and trust in one another, etc. Today children are taught to be very centralized – it’s always ‘me’ and ‘mine’.

Pifran Fernandes, Director, Horizon Beach Resort, Velsao

So far we have not encountered any voyeuristic behaviour among our guests and, anyway, our choice of action is very limited in the illegal use of camera cells within the premises of a resort unless someone complains to us of harassment and violation of individual privacy.  Then only can we take action judging on the gravity of the offence. 

Basically, there are no clear cut laws or instructions by which we, in the hospitality industry, can adhere to, as of now.  I’m sure the industry will work out something to uphold everyone’s individual space and privacy. 

Chandrakant Sangawar, GM, Majorda Beach Resort

Being a resort, we don’t have tourists who misuse mobiles because up-market tourists come to Goa to relax and leave all electronic gadgets behind except their camera to capture the vibrant beauty of Goa.  However, nothing really can be done if somebody uses the camera cell surreptitiously for nefarious motives. But we take every precaution by maintaining separate wash rooms for men and women. And we are alert at the pool side too. 

With the advance of technology, it’s very difficult to detect or identify sleazy elements.    But we are very watchful, nevertheless.  The Hotel Industry Association (HIA), the world over, is very aware of this nuisance and is chalking out preventive measures.