The Dangers Of Cell Phones In The Classroom

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.

Hmm, phones in the classroom! What do you think? That is a debate between billions of people in the world today. Children all over the world have phones, but they can not have them out during school hours. Cell phones are important to so many kids and adults. These devices have been around for so long, and many people can not live without them. All around the school campus, students are miserable without their phones. In the world today, about three-fourths of the U.S. population have phones. A cell phone is an important thing to some people. Without cell phones, kids wouldn't have access to their social media accounts like Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more. So take this into consideration, even if it is in one class, students should be allowed to get on their cell phones during school hours.

In the article “Hang It Up” written by Jesse Scaccia, discuss the negative effects of cellphones in the classroom. As a former public school teacher, Scaccia thinks that cellphones are too much of an interruption to be used while a teacher is teaching and shouldn’t be allowed in classrooms. Due to the level of distractions cellphones cause in the class some students will fail at the end of the school year. She also states the parents and students point of view, in which they feel cellphones are needed in case of an emergency. Scaccia feels, students weren’t being honest with their parents because they would use their phones when there was no emergency, only for social purposes during class time. I agree both ways on the matter because as a safety issue they are needed during the day but they aren’t always used in that nature while school is in session.

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.

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.

Continuing on with the subject of cellular devices in the classroom; cellular devices can be a massive distraction to everyone in the classroom, even if they aren’t the ones using it. Imagine this; a student is in class, quietly working on homework, trying to study for an important test the following day. This student cares a great deal about their grades and wants to ace the test. However, the student sitting next to them at the table is not putting any effort into studying for the important test that is coming up shortly. Instead, this student is on their phone taking pictures, scrolling through social media, and texting their friends that are across the room. It might not seem like what this student is doing is a distraction, but it is. The student trying to work is distracted by what their peers are doing on the phone and stops studying. This affects the student poorly, because now they can not focus and their grades will go down. In cases like this, not only is the person using the cellular device being distracted, but the people around them are being distracted as well; which is a great problem.

School is right around the corner. Some students are bubbling over with excitement, ready to start the new school year. Others are dreading the return. In preparation of class beginning, school supply lists are sent out. Pencils, notebooks, folders, and pens are all found on the list. However, there is one item that can’t be found, yet is seen in almost every classroom in America. Cell phones have become an evident part of school life, both in an academic and personal way. But are phones helping or hurting students? This controversy has been examined by professionals and parents alike. Some believe that phones are a tool and should be integrated into classroom activities. Others find them as an unnecessary distraction that is preventing cognitive learning. Through surveys conducted at local high schools, opinions from multiple teachers and administrators, and personal experience, it is found that a student’s education is negatively affected by the integration of cell phones in the classroom. This is caused by a lack of focus, cheating, drama, and disruptions in the class setting. Then, a solution is proposed in hopes of resolving the issue caused by cellular devices.

Even though, “that their students are using them to text friends,” some teachers say “, or update their various social media sites.” Some teachers have a no-tolerance rate for having cell-phones in the classroom because they could be on sites that they shouldn’t be on during class time. Moreover, there is a easy solution, “change the classroom dynamic from lecturing at the front of the room to having no traditional front of the classroom at all.

First and foremost, not every person that attends school has a smartphone. In other words, some people's parents don't want their children to have a phone at this given moment, also some families can't afford it.For example, this year i am taking A.P. Bio, we use our phones in that class everyday for about 75% of the entire class period for many different reasons. I don't have a smartphone though, so i'm constantly behind on my bell ringers which causes me to have excess homework. This basically consists of me getting punished for something I can't control at all. This proves my point when i say it's all around a huge disadvantage. What are teachers trying to accomplish by doing this? There are no real benefits to cell phone use in the classroom other than teachers having to do less work, also it's a good time filler.

Cell phones are a distraction not only to the students, but to the teachers as well. Katz makes a great point by stating the “students’ attention was focused in the classroom rather than the phones under their desks”. This proves that when you take cell phones out of the hands of students they can focus more on the material being taught rather than how many likes their Instagram post has received.

In a world full of uncertainties at least we can all agree cell phones do not belong in class, right… right? As technology evolves so too does the human, nowadays we are so surrounded by information that our attention has dwindled, and currently there is one big war for attention occurring, the war between the classroom and the cell phone. Right now we are starting to believe that banning phones all together is the answer and while many people agree that strong-arming teens from being able to use their cell phones will solve the problem schools are having it just simply isn’t the case, banning cell phones from the classroom won’t fix anything.

Do your teachers let you have your phone in class? Many don't, currently most teachers do not let students use their devices during class time. Cell Phones have been becoming increasingly popular. According to the huffington post “Millions more will join the ranks of smartphone users in the years ahead, as the remainder of the 92 percent of American adults who own cellphones upgrade their devices” this article illustrates that many people own cell phones and many more will soon. And most teachers view them as a distraction to the learning environment. I disagree. Cell phones should be allowed in class because they are educational, can be used as tools, and in that could improve their learning. Teachers should let students use their cell phones during class because they can use it for a resource, an emergency, and for overall happiness.

A lack of good cell phone manners is constantly observed in classrooms. Students all the way from elementary school to college use their phones during class. According to Ron Kurtus, the use of cell phones during class is something that upsets teachers because it distracts students from what they are being taught (1). That is the reason why teachers forbid their students from being on their phones while they are teaching, but students do it anyways. Students have to understand that by using their phones they are not only affecting themselves. There are some cases when they can be affecting their classmates. Many students like to be listening to music while they are doing their work, and that seems insignificant but it is not. Some of the times a student is listening to music they have the volume all the way up; this causes other students to hear their music too, so now there are more students being distracted in class because of one person that does not know the right volume they should use. Also, students that use their cell phones in class are disrespecting their teacher, because they are supposed to be paying attention to them, not to their cell phones.

Students should be permitted limited use of mobile phone while attending their schools. Not all students use their mobile or cellular phones while at school; many do. Not all students who use their cell phone in school are using them during class. Students and educational staff come down very hard on students for using cell phones during class session, in many cases, justifiably so. Yet, there are instances when mobile phone use during school is not a distraction or threat to the students' attention and education.