Mumbai, Feb 14: The Bombay High Court Thursday directed the Maharashtra government and the Centre to respond to a public interest litigation seeking children be prohibited from playing the mobile game PUBG at school.
A bench of Chief Justice Naresh Patil and Justice N M Jamdar sought suggestions from the state and the Union government on how to deal with the problem of violence and aggression among children, which the PIL alleged the game leads to.
The petition has been filed by an eleven-year-old boy through his mother.
Advocate Tanveer Nizam, the petitioner's lawyer, demanded that children be prohibited from playing the online game PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) at school at least.
The petitioner has also sought a direction to the Union government to form an 'online ethics review committee' for periodical checking of such violence-oriented online content.
The game has children and adults addicted, it promotes violence, aggression and cyber-bullying, the PIL alleged.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
