Last year, Kim Ji-hoon, a middle school student, filed a complaint to the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, claiming his school’s ban on cellphone use limits his social life.

Since 2012, all students attending school have been prohibited from bringing cellphones to class, except on specific circumstances such as school trips and outdoor field work.

The ban was introduced in 2012 to prevent possible traffic accidents caused by cellphone use, as well as to encourage all students to focus on their studies without being disturbed by their smart devices. 

Still, Kim claimed the ban was unfair, as most students did not agree with it, adding that he has been unable to efficiently contact his parents after school, even in emergency situations.

Kim’s school is one of the three educational institutions the NHRCK officially advised on Wednesday to ease their ban on cellphone use among students.

The human rights watchdog said such practices that prohibit cellphone use violate Article 18 of the Constitution, which stipulates that the “privacy of correspondence of no citizen shall be infringed,” as well as the students’ unalienable rights to pursue happiness.

The watchdog stressed that in the case of Kim’s school, the majority of its students and their parents did not agree with the ban.

According to a survey organized by school authorities about a month after the ban was introduced, 73 percent of students said the ban should be lifted, while 54.9 percent of parents thought the same. Still, the school did not revise its regulations against cellphones.

“There are other ways to prevent car accidents caused by cellphone use, such as safety education,” the agency said in a statement.

“And it’s unfortunate that the practice was implemented without the majority of the students’ agreement. Such practice seems to violate the students’ rights to pursue happiness, which is guaranteed by the Constitution, by limiting their opportunities to communicate freely with their family and friends on top of infringing their rights to independence and freedom.”

South Korea is one of the most wired countries it the world, with more than 80 percent of the entire population owning smartphones as of last year.

A recent study by the nation’s Gender Ministry showed that nearly 14 percent of Korean students are addicted to either a smartphone or the Internet.

Some of the government’s measures against smartphone addiction among teenagers include a rehab camp for young Internet or smartphone addicts, as well as therapy sessions with school counselors. Some schools, like Kim’s, ban smartphone use altogether in classrooms.

“We acknowledge that many worry about smartphone addiction among teenagers, but at the same time, cellphones can be seen as an (irreplaceable) medium that connects young people with one another, which prevents them from social isolation,” the NKRCK said in a statement.

Aside from Kim, students from two other high schools also filed complaints to the human rights agency last year, claiming their schools’ ban on cellphone use is unfair.

Both of the institutions are boarding schools that only allow students to use their cell phones on weekends. In one of the schools, 460 students currently have to share only four public phones, should they need to speak to someone outside the school on weekdays, and only with their teachers’ approval, the human rights agency said.

The school’s authorities explained that allowing cell phone use may negatively affect student’s dorm life, on top of their academic performance. “Most students share their rooms with three other students, and when one of them plays with his or her phone at night when the light is turned off, it can decrease their roommates’ quality of sleep.”

The authorities also claimed that students have “no time to spend with their cell phones,” due to their tight schedule. According to the report by the NKRCK, the students wake up at 6:30 a.m. every day, have breakfast at 7:30 and have classes from 8:30 a.m. until 9:30 p.m., before going to bed at 11 a.m. At the other school, students wake up at 6 a.m. and have classes from 7:30 a.m. until 8:50 p.m. They are required to study on their own from 9:30 p.m. until 1 a.m. before they go to sleep. The students only sleep five hours daily.

Human rights violations in South Korea’s education system have been frequently reported, such as bans on dating, wearing earrings and dying or perming hair, according to the teenager rights organization Group for Youth Sexuality Rights.

The NKRCK advised both of the schools to ease their bans on cell phones.

“Students attending boarding schools inevitably live away from their family members, and it’s only natural for them to want to stay connected,” the agency said in a statement.

“We conclude that it’s almost impossible for 460 students to freely communicate with their loved ones if they only have four public phones to share between everyone.

Their privacy may also be violated as they are required to get their teachers’ approval should they want to use the public phones. We think this infringes on their right to pursue happiness.”

By Claire Lee (dyc@heraldcorp.com)

Kim Ji-hoon is not his real name. A false name was used as the NHRCK requested to protect his privacy. –Ed.