Why Cellphones Shoudn't Be Used In Schools
Dear School Board: Is there something behind introducing cellphones into classrooms? While most teenagers use cellphones all the time and always have them on their person no matter where they are going they should stay out of classrooms and curriculums. Although cell phones can be used to effectively enhance the learning of students, allowing cell phones in class rooms can also lead to more cyber bullying and lower academic scores. Opposing views claim that allowing cell phones in classrooms will help them learn and succeed. It has also been argued that students can use their smartphones to record homework, do research for projects and record speeches given by their teachers. While these seem like great ways to utilize phones in class, what about the kids who don’t have smart phones? I think that phones could be well used in classrooms because “a study done in March by Pew Research center found that 77% of young people aged 12-17 have cell phones and 1 in 4 have smartphones” (USA today).
While many kids do have cell phones, there is still a large number that doesn’t. As technology and new innovative ways to learn and experience the world arise, schools have to continue along the same paths. While some good may come about from introducing smartphones into everyday curriculum many flaws also arise. Cyber bullying is already a major problem in the world of technology. With the introduction of smartphones into classes the number of cyber bullying incidence reported each day will only grow. “Pupils are texting when they should be working; they use social networking sites to bully fellow pupils; and post pictures of their teachers on YouTube” (The guardian).
Is this really what we want to be teaching kids? How is this okay in the minds of any adult? Phones are just another way to bully and torture kids. Phones and social networking let bullies get to you even when they can’t see you. Cyber bullying can happen anywhere and to anyone. Why perpetuate a problem that society already has by introducing more time and ways to do it? “There is an epidemic of under-the-desk texting during class, a virtual economy of exam pictures posted to Facebook, a trade in school fight videos posted to YouTube” (Washington Post). All these problems schools have and the introduction of cell phones into classrooms will on tell the bullies that nothing can stop them or even that it’s okay.
Bullying is a big issue and technology only makes it easier for students to get harassed and pushed around. Whether bullies use their fists, their mouths, or their phones it all causes mental and emotional trauma to the students. Why let bullies hurt students even more than they already can? Schools are supposed to be safe places for kids to go and learn. Introducing phones will just give bullies another tool to use in the destruction of someone’s life. These sole leaching instruments of destruction shouldn’t be implemented in classrooms for any reason. Student GPAs suffer from bullying and technology.
Your GPA in high school determines what colleges you can get into and where you will go in life. A group of people decided to do a survey on some college students. They found that “69% of the 1,800 students [in the survey] reported they texted during class” (Chicago Tribune). This in turn led to lower overall semester GPA scores in those students. This is number is extremely high for people who are supposed to be carving the gate way to their future.
“In the past five years researchers have published the results of five surveys and experiments that link texting and Facebooking with lower academic performance. In 2011, researchers at California State University reported that students who received or sent a high number of text messages during a video recorded lecture scored worse on a quiz than those who received or sent few or no text messages” (Chicago Tribune). This also goes to show how cell phones should stay out of the classroom. Phones are a link to another part of your life. When you’re in school you should be focused on academics, not the latest gossip.
Introducing cell phones into classes on a more permanent base will only decrees students want to be there because even if students are in class, they aren’t focused on class. “Today’s young adults are texting at unprecedented rates, with recent studies indicating that they send and receive about 200 texts a day and spend over six hours a day using technologies such as Facebook, text messaging, instant messaging, email and Internet search engines” (Chicago tribune). 6 hours a day on technology? This is how much time they spend in school every day. A poll done of five astronomy classes (392 students) tested to see if there was any correlation between students who texted during class and there GPA scores. The results were astonishing.
The kids who used their cell phones over five times had the lowest GPA scores and the kids who lever used their cell phones had the highest GPA scores. This goes to show that there is a lack of learning when cell phones are in use. Cell phones should stay out of the classrooms so students can learn and feel prepared when they leave high school to move on to college and the real world. In the real world, in a job or workplace you’re not going to be allowed to use your phones. If your texting while on the job you will probably be fired. These kids who are texting in class have lower GPAs and will have a harder time when they try applying for colleges and then jobs.
The results do not lie; phones should stay out of classrooms at any level of learning, i.e. college, high school, middle school or elementary school. All in all, I firmly believe that the high school should not allow cell phones in the classroom because it will lead to more cyber bullying and lower GPAs in students. Technology was created to make are lives easier but it only made us lazy.
We are creatures who often look for the easy way out or the quickest answer. We need to be able to use are brains and be able to trust ourselves not a machine. Machines are faulty and although we are just a living machine we have a way of making decisions that will influence the rest of our lives. Keeping phones out of classrooms only forces kids to work harder and actually apply themselves to school and their education. Schools are supposed to be the gate ways to students’ futures don’t let them become the source of their destruction. Thank you for your time.
