Remember the days when cell phones were rare and “technology” was only a word used in fancy presentations? Remember the days when going to computer class was the coolest thing because at home there was no such thing?
At least I do and it still shocks me how within a decade all that changed. I still remember when I was eight years old and my mom got her first cell phone, never in a million years would I have thought that I’d have my own before the age of 16.
Now, my phone is my best friend (well not really, but I do rely on it more than I’d like to). My cell phone is constantly being put to use with anything that goes on in my daily life from Googling places to eat, fun things to do, or looking up the questions to last night’s homework.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who relies so much on an object to run their lives; hence the good old “no cell phones in class” rule.
Apparently, however, high schools are now thinking of lifting that rule and allowing kids to use cell phones in class to surf the web for discussions in class, use the calculator and so forth. Is this really a good idea though?
In my opinion it isn’t. We all know that kids cannot multitask. At a high school level, kids are still immature and developing. Being allowed to use a cellphone in class would take away from the little attention span teachers are already struggling to receive from their students.
If I was in a high school where it was allowed to take my phone out to “research” you can be sure that’s the last thing I’ll be doing. Don’t get me wrong, I was a good student, top of my class and all, but electronic devices are just too distracting, especially the smart phones they keep coming out with.
Just the other day I pulled out my phone to read an e-text in class and within a few minutes I found myself reading my friends’ captions on Instagram totally not what I was supposed to be doing. If I did that as a junior in college, just imagine a junior in high school.
Now I do believe, however, that college students are a different story. Some of us are paying for our own education. We are here because we want to be, not because we have to and to get that job we are working our butt off for. Therefore, no one should be telling us how to behave.
We’re old enough to realize what’s wrong and what will jeopardize our academic good standings; if we choose to be on a phone for $40,000 a year, let that be on our conscience.
Professors and the University are getting paid either way, why does it matter if we spend an hour pretending to listen or really just texting about tomorrow’s plans?
High school on the other hand, is mandatory and it is where students are prepared to make the decisions we as college students are now making. In my opinion, cell phones would certainly distract from that foundation.
