Bad cell phone, bad!

I agree with Mr. Allen that cell phones should be banned from the classroom. First, I believe that it is a distraction. With everything that teachers have to compete with, adding an electronic toy to the mix can only detract from learning. I do believe that we need to integrate technology into the classroom but it needs to contribute to the learning process. As good teachers we should have our students connected to activities and lectures, not off in their own world texting or surfing the net. Also, in this discussion we need to be realistic with ourselves about the behavior of teenagers. When given the freedom to use their phones in class, students are not going to be focused on taking notes or research. These devices simply give teachers another role to play, electronic cop.

I also believe that there is an equity problem with cell use in class. Those students that are privileged enough to have a phone purchased for them, have a huge advantage over those that do not. Allowing the privileged few to have the use of an electronic crutch in school not only creates an unequal learning environment but stigmatizes other students that may not have the money for a phone or have parents who believe kids just do not need a cell phone.

You may ask, “why not buy phones for every kid?” In a time when schools are having a problem just affording teachers communities should not have to pay for a device that will be used outside of school 90% of the time. Schools are constantly cutting back in every area and the money that could be spent on cell phones really should be used to hire more teachers and reduce class size. In fact, if you dissect the argument in favor of cell phones, you would quickly see that many of the roles the phone were once handled by teachers. Most importantly, we should admit that school did exist before cell phones and it will continue to exist even if students leave their phones at the door.