To keep or not to keep? The public give their take on the ACS phone confiscation case

The father of a Secondary 2 student from Anglo-Chinese School (Barker Road) is suing the school principal for damages after his son's iPhone 7 was confiscated when he was caught using it during school hours. 

District Judge Clement Julien Tan turned down the parent's request to have the phone returned immediately.

He ruled that the principal was justified in holding on to the phone, as the school rules had made it clear that any student caught using a phone during school hours will have it confiscated for at least three months. 

Is the school justified in holding on to the phone for three months?

Stomp took to the streets to ask the public to give their two cents' worth. 

Most people who were interviewed sided with the school, stating that since the three-month confiscation was clearly stated in the school rules, the boy was clearly aware of the consequences of using his phone.

One mother said that she “completely agreed with what the school did".

In fact, the popular opinion was that if rules were issued, they should be followed.

However, many respondents also felt that three months was too long a period for the school to hold on to the student’s phone.

In addition, many agreed that suing the school was not the best course of action, with most of them saying that simply communicating the matter to the school would have been a less drastic and more effective option. 

Watch the video below.