No

by Kelly Kidd

Created on: June 15, 2010

I am an elementary teacher, and the answer to whether or not cell phones should be used in school is a simple one for me.  At this level, it is difficult to see a place for them.  With the integration of technology into curriculum being a gradual initiative in my building, we are not anywhere near using cell phones to enhance our lessons.  Many of my students do not even have cell phones let alone ones that would enable them to research topics or connect with others.  The pros and cons are out there, but for me, the drawbacks outweigh the benefits.

According to Family Education, a valid list of cons is presented:

•Students often forget to turn off their phones in class, and ringing noises or text-message alerts disrupt learning.   

•Even if set to silent, cell phones can still cause distraction, since text messaging has become a high-tech method of passing notes in school.

•Students have been known to use cell phones to call in bomb threats to schools, to avoid or condense class time.  

•In the event of a widespread crisis, rampant cell phone use can overload communication systems and render them inoperable. 

•Student cell phone networks add to the spread of rumors and misinformation, which can be harmful during a widespread crisis.  

•Phones can be used as cheating devices during exams. 

•The long-term physical effects of cell phone use are still undetermined. 

My thoughts on the list of cons are as follows:

•Just the other day, I had a student in my class whose cell phone went off.  It not only took 5 minutes to find the cell phone, but another chunk of time was spent trying to redirect the students and to try to get back to the focus of the lesson. 

•The use of cell phones to pass notes is simply a hindrance to learning.  Students are not engaged in the lesson, and are showing disrespect to the teacher. By allowing students to have/use cell phones in the school setting, we are in a sense making it easier to participate in these immature, serious actions. 

•You may say that students would just find another way to make threats if cell phones were banned, but why make it readily available to them? For this reason alone, our students’ safety is on the line.  Why take the risk?

•The issue of cyber bullying and sexting are becoming more and more prevalent even in our fifth and sixth grade building.  Many behavior problems stem from text messages that have been sent back and forth and then forwarded to other students.  It is already an awkward enough age without having to worry about who is saying what about you let alone texting about you.

•Although it would be difficult for the age group of students that I teach to use their personal cell phones for cheating, this could be a problem at the middle and high school levels.

•According to the National Cancer Institute, the radiofrequency energy which is a form of radiation may be causing brain tumors and forms of cancer.  Research is still being conducted, but the risk is there.

Even at the young age of my fifth graders, we have dealt with inappropriate text messaging and even drug deals/requests being made through texting.  It saddens me that these events are occurring among 10 and 11 year olds.  It seems as though cell phones make these tragedies even easier.  Students think that no one will read their texts and that they can get away with being inappropriate.

With the attention span of students today dwindling at such a rapid pace, adding cell phones into the everyday happenings of a school day just adds another opportunity to take away from those teachable moments.  My students easily loose focus and their attention is quickly given to the slightest interruption or noise.  Without the availability of cell phones, I feel that as a teacher I can have the undivided attention of my students.

Of course the districts could allow cell phone usage along with guidelines, rules and expectations, but there will always be those students that want to push the line as far as they can.  As the old adage goes, “if you give an inch, they’ll take a mile”, we could be opening up an area of technology usage in schools that may come back to bite us. 

In an article I read by MSNBC, cell phones in a district in Wisconsin were being used to promote violence through fighting.  The point here is that when cell phones are allowed in school, they are not always being used for educational purposes, but instead we see a negative side.  Superintendent William Andrekopoulos said it best in the article when he says, “I think people have to rise themselves up from a level of convenience to a level of safety.  I think that’s where we’re at in this country.”  Students should come to school and feel safe.  If we, through the use of cell phones, take that feeling of safety away from our students, then we as teachers have failed. 

Sources

http://life.familyed ucation.com/cellular -telephones/school/5 1264.html

http://www.schoolsec urity.org/trends/cel l_phones.html

http://www.cancer.go v/cancertopics/facts heet/Risk/cellphones

http://www.msnbc.msn .com/id/16839323/

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