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It’s the lunchtime break at Shanghai Xianxia Middle School. No mobile phones can be heard ringing anywhere. The common sight of crowds of children chatting on their phones or sending short messages has disappeared.
A grade-2 student said, “I couldn’t concentrate during classes if the cell phone was with me. I couldn’t help checking if there were messages or missed phone calls. I even played games on the phone sometimes.”
The school authorities say they feel the ban(禁令) is necessary to keep order in class. They even gave out an open letter to remind parents not to let their children bring mobile phones to school. More than 96 percent of parents say they welcome the school decision. The school is also being flexible (灵活的) in implementing the ban. Those students who live far from school are allowed to bring mobile phones to contact their parents. But they still have to switch them off in classrooms.