Photo: Screenshot of the viral video posted by regional news channel OneIndia Malayalam on Youtube.
Shit went down at a college in Karnataka when the headmaster of MES Chaitanya PU College in Sirsi took matters into his own hands. Principal RM Bhatt had instituted an on-campus ban on mobile phones, but many students continued to not care and brought their phones anyway, presumably for some post-class TikTok sessions. So, to prove that he wasn’t messing around, he decided that smashing their phones with a hammer was the only way to nail down the ban.Under the guise of an awareness assembly held on Thursday, September 12, the principal confiscated 17 phones from the gathered students. He then proceeded to break two of them with a hammer in front of the entire college, much to the students’ horror. “The remaining 15 phones have been kept in the college locker and these will be returned to students after the annual exams. It was just to create awareness and warn the students,” he told The New Indian Express, saying the extreme measure was necessary since students continued to ignore the rule with an IDGAF attitude.Gen Z may be all about digital detox but that doesn’t mean smashing someone’s phone to smithereens just to prove a point is ever okay. Ever since the principal’s behaviour has gone viral in a video, many parents and teachers have come out in support of his destructive actions, even though the students still feel it’s a violation of their trust and property, and that he took things too far.But the principal’s decision has made an impact on other college campuses, with many in the district considering a similar implementation and even warning their students that they, too, will break their phones if caught using them on campus.But here’s a thought: instead of a blanket ban on mobile phone usage and resorting to fear-mongering feats that only promote a culture of violence, why not update the education system so students themselves feel like keeping their phones away instead of only doing so after being threatened? It's a matter of principle over the principal.Follow Shamani Joshi on Instagram.
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