MALAYSIA: THE ban on cellphones for schoolchildren should be reconsidered in light of the recent abductions of children, Berita Harian said in an editorial.

By allowing schoolchildren to have mobile phones, the editorial said it would allow them to call their parents should they happen to be in any incident.

"To ensure there is no disturbance during classes, the school can prepare a special area to keep the phones, and students can collect them at the end of the day."

The editorial said although the Education Ministry had come up with many safety policies such as wanting the children to wait in a specified area when being picked up after school, the real situation showed that this was hardly followed.

"Instead, the children loiter outside the school or go to shopping malls. This is why the ban on mobile phones should be lifted."

Apart from this, the editorial said more residential areas should set up Rukun Tetangga patrol schemes and work together to ensure their neighbourhoods were safe.