Should Students Be Allowed to Use Cellphones in School?

Should Students Be Allowed to Use Cellphones in School?

“Ring, ring ring!” went your phone as you were taking an important exam that will determine if you’ll be getting AP classes next year. Great news! The notification mentioned that you got 300 followers on Instagram. Bad news! You spent so long liking all the cute photos of cats you saw on your Instagram that you ran out of time and barely answered question two. As a result, you failed the exam. These are just one of the millions of possible scenarios students face with the temptation of using a cellphone in school. Now, imagine resisting that urge especially when your school suddenly lifted the restrictions on cellphones during class. Students shouldn't be allowed to use cellphones in school because it can be a source of distraction, it can be used to cheat during tests and it can increase cyberbullying.

First and foremost, cellphones can distract students away from their school work. Instead of working on their classwork, they're taking pictures on social media platforms. When any phone rings, it automatically changes the focus for the people in the room. The focus of our school day should be learning, not answering phone calls. If a cell phones rings, buzzes or lights up during instruction, the teacher would obviously have to reprimand the student which will distract the entire class. To further explain, in the text it states, “About a year and a half ago, I said, “All right, we cant win this battle, how do we turn it so it wins for us, so we can make it a positive?” said Cindy Taymore, superintendent for Melrose Public Schools. “[Students] weren't paying attention, they were checking their e-mail, and God forbid the Patriots were in a playoff game.” This shows if we allow students to bring cellphones in school, they will most likely be using it for things other than learning.

As mentioned on the previous paragraph, cellphones can enable the chance for students to cheat during class. Cellphones come with the ability to provide us with useful web browsers like Google, Mozila Fire Fox, Bing, etc. Although all of those things are convenient, it isn't necessary in a learning environment. Calculators, cameras and other tools that cell phones contain could help students cheat on tests and assignments. Furthermore, in the text it states, “Critics believe, however, that allowing these devices will only encourage their non-educational use in school, to the point where they will be a significant distraction for teachers and students- as a potential tool for cheating.” This proves that students need an environment to be able to learn successfully without any distractions like cellphones.

Last, but not least, by allowing students to use their phone in school, the chances of cyberbullying occurring during school hours are higher. With the rapidly increasing use of technology among