Running Head:CELL PHONE DISTRACTION 3 Cell Phone Distractions 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. “Concerns about cell phones in the classrooms are also grounded in what we know about teenage brains, including the inability to concentrate while multi tasking and possibly long term effects on overall health” (12) Multitasking is hard enough and if teens are doing this in the classroom that means that kids are not learning enough while staring at their phones while the teacher is teaching. Having said this a study from Pew research center stated that “78 percent of teens check their devices hourly”, this is insane. If that is true that means on average a student will at least look at her/his device once per class period. As being a student in high school i find this to be very true. Another study from Pew Research center stated that “50% of teens 13-18 feel addicted to their phones”, this means that means separating from their phones will be tough. The reason i am writing about this topic is to inform people about this epidemic and i am stating why this needs to be fixed. “Unlike other technologies there is something very specific about smartphones it represents life, entertainment, social Running Head:CELL PHONE DISTRACTION 4 media, and gaming” (12) the reason for this is because of apps such as Netflix, Hulu, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and gaming apps. Phones being allowed in the classroom are tempting for students. Students feel a vibration in their pockets and feel the need to check their phones. Apps for example snapchat will flash the camera light when the student receives a snap from someone. A research from Pew Research center asked a teacher what her thoughts were on the issue. “It’s just too tempting for a student. Once that phone is brought out, most can’t resist texting a friend or begin playing a game.” (12) Schools are allowing this epidemic to spread by
In today’s world, distractions remain prevalent in simple everyday occurrences. Amongst these distractions is the use of cell phones whether simply walking down the hallway absorbed in a conversation or behind the wheel driving down the highway. Cell phones, no matter the context, are a major distraction. They have managed to pull us away from spending time with our families and appearing in places they are not prevalent such as family dinners and behind the wheel of a car.
Smartphones have harmfully changed how teaangers behave in the standard academic classroom, making them unable to concentrate. The article “How Smartphones Hijack our minds” by Nicholas Carr provides several studies to show that the division of attention decrease when the phone is near to a person.
From personal experience, I can say that high school students are going to have cell phones in class regardless of the punishments associated with getting caught; the main reason is that they seldom get caught. With one teacher and roughly thirty students, it is easy to sneak by the teacher’s gaze and send a text message here or there or find the score to the big game that you missed. Michael Rich, pediatrician and media expert, says, “Pandora’s box is open here… What we need to do is take control of them instead of them control us” (Teachers vs. Texting). To help reduce these disruptions from occurring, we need to incorporate cell phones into high school classroom with the other technologies to promote interactive and kinesthetic learning.
Teenagers must consider the importance of being concentrated when studying. Otherwise, we won’t be able to learn in a good way. Things are done in a better way if we do them each at a time. Most of the effects of cellphone messaging on teenagers may be negative due to the fact that they’re used just to chat and gossip and not for important stuff, as used by adults. When a teacher is giving a new class, we may be distracted by a text massage. If we don’t pay attention, more probably, we’ll get a low grade on the next quiz. But that does not only represents a bad grade, but an emptiness in the student’s memory because he might have lost or misunderstood a concept that may be important to comprehend further theories or themes. Text messaging may also become a vice, and anyone could even become an addict. Some teenagers
The students would not have to make time to go to the computer lab to use a computer, they could instantly research at their desk (Funding , 2014). For students to use a cell phone in the classroom, they would have to be greatly monitored to keep them focused on research, not playing games, texting, or browsing social media. If the students are not monitored when using a cell phone in class, their learning process is hindered greatly. Statistics show that seventy-three percent of teachers admitted that they or their students use cell phones in the classroom (Bautista, 2013). Cell phones can be a distraction for teachers as well as students, if teachers are too wrapped up in their social networking profiles and not concerned with the students sitting before them, they are failing to do their job
In school today being a sophomore in highschool I see the distraction every day. Us kids have a hard time letting our phone go. We have to be on it 24/7 or we will “die.” While teachers are lecturing us kids some of the kids will sit there and text or snapchat. It doesn’t just distract that person but it also distracts others around because they try and look at the person's phone. It also distracts us from learning we love to just get the answers in our hand so we look everything up so instead of learning we are copying.
Teenagers who use their cellphones very often will have their academic progress negatively affected due to being distracted. It is not a rare occurrence for teenagers to have their phones with them while they are in class, but that is mainly because many of them do not realize the impact it is having on their grades. Researchers, Christian M. End, Shaye Worthman, Mary Bridget Matthews, and Katharina Wetterau at Xavier University did a study about the impact of
Many students focus on their cellphones instead of their education during school. Source 2 states that, “ While smartphones can lower educational costs and enhance student satisfaction, they are not shown to improve academic performance.” Source 1 explains that, “ Students believe they are capable of multitasking with smartphones, but they are not and earn lower grades as a result.” On the darker side source 5 tells that, “ Some students use their
According to huffingtonpost an average teenager spends over one third of their day on their phones and kids ages 8-12 also spend nearly 6 hours a day on their smartphones. In addition, non-class purposes at least 10 times a day. Banning phones also shows respect to the teachers and students who would not like to be distracted throughout their day in class. In addition to that, in 2015 a history teacher at Lowell High School quits her job after her frustration with students and their cellphones. After 20 year of teaching she stated at that texting, tweeting and snapchatting during class time are “and incredible distraction,and makes it much more difficult to teach.”
Luigi Gallimberti, et. al discusses in their article “Problematic Cell Phone Use for Text Messaging and Substance Abuse in Early Adolescence (11- to 13-year-olds),” that problematic cell phone use (PCPU), is associated with psychological distress, low self-esteem, depression, drug abuse, insomnia, and thoughts of suicide (356). The overuse of cellphones can really detriment a person mentally and could cause them to arrive at one of these issues stated. An issue also arises when a person with a cell phone addiction is in school. They tend to remain unfocused while on their phones and they don’t participate during class. In a sample, the students who had better test grades were less likely to have a problematic cell phone addiction (Gallimberti, et. al 360). This finding confirms the positive association between cell phone addiction and poor performance in school. In schools, it was concluded that this overuse of cellphones was positively connected with deficient school performance in teens with an average age of 15.7 years old (Gallimberti, et. al 360). Aviad Hadar studies in his article “Answering the Missed Call: Initial Exploration of Cognitive and Electrophysiological Changes Associated With Smartphone Use and Abuse” that cell phone addiction was studied to be linked with reduced attention, changes in how someone processes, stores, and applies information about other people and social
Overuse of cellphones can be distracting are when you get a text when you are driving and you answer it you take your focus off the road you can get blindsided. When you have your phone in class you could play on your phone instead on working on your work. People are too distracted on their phone and they have it in their
The rewards from using cell phones can be great, but by using them we may not reach whatever goal we have set because they can hinder us from making it there. Cell phones being used as educational tools can be a helpful thing if we decide to take the necessary steps to ensure that students are doing what they are supposed to. Although cell phones can be used in ways to benefit us in the learning environment, they still play a major part in why they grades and test scores look the way do. This is exactly why cell phones shouldn’t be used as educational
In the classroom cellphones cause to much of distraction. Students are to tempted to text or surf the web when they have their cellphones on, or even with them in the classroom. Students say that they are looking up an answer or doing research, but are they really? These students find any excuse to be on their phones, and it is a detraction to the other kids around them. “Students check their phones in class more than 11 times a day on average” (Reed). Schools need to come up with better way to improve on these rules so that cellphones won’t cause such a big issue in class.
There has always been controversy as to whether texting and cell phone use can cause young people to be less likely to be able to concentrate and focus. As young citizens we have the right to be able to own a cell phone and not be criticized using it for educational reasons. Phones give you access to the internet, teach responsibility, and is an emergency access to contact parents; however it can cause cheating in class room areas by sharing answers, it can distract people from doing work in class, and can lead to online predators harming someone.
We must also realize that cell phones do not only place a distraction to students, but also the teacher. Even with classroom policies emplaced and attempts to enforce it, for example by confiscating devices and