No Cell Phones In The Classroom

By: Danette Russell '09

Cells phones and Schools to me are like oil and water; they don’t mix well.  The technology of the cell phone is splendid, innovative, ingenious and efficient but like most things, tolerable in moderation.

A classroom is the last place a cell phone should be.  Now days there is enough technology in the classroom, on and around any campus, at any grade level, that if a student needs to be reached in an emergency, their personal cell phone shouldn’t enter the equation of academia.  There is a land line to the front office of the school that has been a successful form of communication for many years.  Combine that with email to the classrooms and you’ve got a message sent in a nano second.  It will be difficult to convince me of a valid purpose as to why a fifth grader needs a cell phone at all, let alone in school or in classroom.

  The purpose of the classroom is to teach and learn about things that are imperative to us as a species.  As students, we’re there to learn.  There is so much information to be taken in during a class period the cell phone is simply a distraction.  I can’t imagine trying to take notes in a chemistry lecture or lab and talk or text on a cell phone.  It not only lowers your note taking quality, information is inevitably missed.  Not to mention it’s rude, inconsiderate and disrespectful to the teacher and those who wish to learn.  This should be a policy beginning with the school itself and hopefully end up going up the chain of command to a district or possibly even state level.    

If you find you need your cell before, in between and after class, enjoy them at that time.  If you’re going to use them in a public place then some etiquette should be used like keeping your conversation to yourself.  It seems as if some sort of unsaid rule should be in place for the classroom like there is in church; don’t talk in church/no cell phone in the classroom.  As much as I enjoy playing the devils advocate, I do appreciate the convenience of a cell phone.  I believe it has a time and a place and a school room isn’t one of them.