Cell Phones Should Not Be Banned

Are you always on your phone? Either Snapchatting, on Instagram, scrolling through your twitter feed? It can be pretty temping to pick up your phone and do this stuff in class but you can use them in good ways in school. George Washington Middle School currently has cell phones banned in class. Although most teachers think that cell phones are a distraction, cell phones should be allowed in class because students feel anxious without their phones, there are many educational uses, and allowing phones is more convenient.

According to Lenhart, in 2012 three quarters of teens, ages 12-17, owned cell phones. Of those teens, twenty three percent of them indicated they possessed a smartphone. With the technology advancing in cell phones, it has become yet another classroom distraction and a serious concern for cheating. With cell phones on hand, it has created an easy way to become distracted during class. Assistant Professor Campbell from the University of Kansas brought to attention, “one study found that a third of university students in the US play video games on their mobile phones and laptops during class (Gilroy, 2004 as cited in Katz, 2005).” The majority of researchers have found that mobile phones have lead to problematic use in the school environment

losing focus on school work. Not only are the phones a distraction, but it can be used to cheat

Many students have used their cell phones to share answers to tests and quizzes, and to report inaccurate and offensive information about other students and their school. Cell phones can be distractions in the school environment, evading classroom time and reducing student’s academic success.

Many teachers believe that cell phones don’t belong in a classroom because there are several disadvantages. An example maybe a student who uses a cell phone in class has no intension in listening or paying attention to the teacher. This student has a short attention span who cares about socializing more than his/her education. Cell phones can be very disruptive; they can invade people’s privacy and can also be used as harassment or bullying. The usage of cell phones is creating a huge problem particularly when they are used in school.

As more and more states ban cell phone usage while driving, more and more people have actually looked into this topic to see how big of a distraction cell phones are in the car. According to extensive research, barely any accidents involving distractions include cellphones, and even after 20 years of researching this topic, there still isn’t any conclusive data on the impact cellphones have on driving. Cell Phones shouldn’t be banned to use while driving.

“If you have your eyes on a BlackBerry for four seconds trying to text, you go the length of a football field, including the end zone, without looking at the road.”(Ray LaHood). Americans everywhere put their lives and others in danger because they have to send that text or post that selfie. Over the past few decades the popularity of cell phones has skyrocketed and is not slowing down anytime soon. With an increasing number of people commuting every day this is becoming a major problem in the United States. Last year over fifteen people died per day and over 448,000 people were injured due to distracted driving. Because of the extreme dangers cell phone use poses all use of a cell phone should be banned for all people while on the road.

Students everyday and every period in their school schedules use their electronic devices. Students can not be without their electronic devices and they can not be a minute without using their devices. In fact, students are starting to get a text neck from using their devices. Technology is a bad thing in this generation. Students check their phone every 2 minutes to see if they gotten a text or notification from social media.

In addition, students could be talking on the phone and miss an important announcement. A student not paying attention due to a cell phone call may miss an announcement about an activity they participate in being cancelled. They may possibly stay after school for the activity and miss their bus, which causes their parents to have to come pick them up, wasting their car’s gas, and time. A student could also miss an announcement about a class being in a separate room. The student may go tot the original classroom and then have to go to the office to get a pass and inquire where the class is. It will be a distraction to the teacher and the other students if the individual comes into the class behind schedule.

Smartphones have become a part of everyone’s body. Almost everything can be done through smart phones. Paying bills, doing grocery, buying food, and more time consuming tasks can all be done almost instantly by smartphones. Many jobs and institutions today do not allow the use of smartphones during a certain time, especially schools. Prohibition of cell phones in school is a good idea to prevent students from getting distracted. However, high school students should be allowed to access their cell phones at school, because high school students are mature enough to use their cell phones productively and beneficially. Having access to internet is very important to high school students. Many students could not afford to have all kinds of devices, such as laptop, tablets, and cell phones. Entirely banning the usage of cell phones can make students hate the school causing them to be more arrogant.

Cell phones aren’t usually that big so it gives the students a great opportunity to cheat. Most of the time during a test, students go to different websites to look for answers .Since they get free Wi-Fi in classrooms; it even becomes easier for them to cheat. In addition to that students can also trade answers with other students in class through Facebook, sms, kik, message and other social apps.Nowadays, cell phones have become one of the most useful source in America. In other words, a month earlier, I was looking through some photographs in my library class .The pictures were about students who cheats on class works, tests, quizzes and homework and can even go to Gail for plagiarism. On the other hand, today’s students take this as a joke. They don’t realize how it affects their grades. You can cheat a lot in life but one day there will be nothing to cheat from or anyone to get the answers from. In spite of this it is not always mandatory for someone to depend on a source more than themselves. This was another reason to explain why students should not be allowed to bring cell phones to school.

Cell phones and technology in general has advanced a lot over the last ten years. Allowing students to be able to take their phones or devices wherever they want in today’s society. Thus bringing forward the issue of cell phone distraction in the classroom.

Over the years, technological advances have afforded all of us great opportunities and have granted us access to certain things that we otherwise wouldn't have had. One of the most popular forms of technology used worldwide is the use of cell phones. Although they are helpful, the creation and development of cell phones have been both a gift and a curse. Having a cell phone in class can be beneficial for the student when it comes to urgent communicating. Cell phones provide a swift way to reach out to a person if a problem occurred in someone's family. However, the downside of having a cell phone in class is that it causes many distractions for the student, classmates, and the teacher. The usage of cell phones is creating a vast problem mainly when used in school; they are a distraction, anyone can easily chat, and they can take away from peer-to-peer interactions in class. Cell phones can distract a student from learning if someone's cell phones continuously make noises from text messaging and phone calls. When surfing the internet and social media during class, you can miss the whole class lecture and possibly put yourself in a position to fail that class. Cell phones take away from peer-to-peer interactions in class which can affect them individually, and it can also affect the ones around them.

Seventy eight percent of 12-17 years old have cell phones as of a survey taken in

While computers and technology have become an integral part of society today, schools and colleges, for the most part, seem to generally avoid the use of communication devices in the classroom. In fact, many teachers, especially those who are from a more traditional teaching background, appear to regard devices such as cellphones in the classroom as some sort of "evil" to be entirely avoided. Students caught using these devices are then punished by methods such as confiscating the cellphones to be handed back after the class or after another specified length of time.