The Proverbial Stupid Fly That Followed the Corpse Into the Grave

It's good to have smartphones for high school students, but are we not throwing out the baby with the bathwater? There is more to lose than to gain when learners carry these e-gadgets on their person while going about the business of acquiring knowledge. Most screen time is spent on 'dirty lessons,' with little time devoted to productive research and development. A significant number of students have become both mentally and morally 'amputated' due to drug abuse and the consumption of explicit adult content online.

Both vices are highly addictive, and, in the end, the poor student ends up serving two masters, with detrimental effects on their health and education. Prioritizing cannabis, *mutoriro* (crystal meth), and other illicit substances is like traveling down a dead-end road - too late for regret. Granting unrestricted use of smartphones on school premises may not be in the best interest of learners or their parents. The fleeting joy they experience is like morning dew, disappearing quickly before reality sets in.

At the tertiary level, students have focus and know what they want. But high school students, like characters in a Tom and Jerry episode, are still prone to distractions-another twist of 'ganja,' please. They will continue to stick with the sticky situation.

Don't be like the proverbial stupid fly that followed the corpse into the grave.

Tondo. Mash. Central.