Students are allowed to bring their phones to school.

[killer-curry]

What do you think about this? Do you think they should bring their phones to school? Justify your answer.

 

[Kanzler]

Yes. Today we live in a connected world, where we want to talk to family and friends conveniently and where friends and family talk to us. With a phone, you can organize and schedule during lunch breaks, whether it be a family function or a group project that you don't have all the parts for that needs to be handed in right after lunch. As long as there's no harm done (which I think there isn't), kids should be allowed to bring their phones to school.

 

[Her]

Well, yeah, at the very least they should be allowed to bring them to school. I don't know any high schooler who had a phone that didn't bring it with them. Plus it's just common sense to have it on you when you're out and about.

I just think it comes down to individual teacher discretion on when they should be used. My history teacher used to allow us to listen to music, text, search things, etc if he was in a good mood, so long as we got the work done to a high standard. If we didn't then he'd crack down and there'd be no question about it: you use it, you lose it. We got away with this because we were a small class (eight history students in my final year) in a small school, plus he kntew us and we mostly did as he asked. He let us do as we wished because he reasoned we were going to sneak around it anyway, so why not be open about it - at our own risk. On the other end of the spectrum, the entire science department banned the usage of phones anywhere near the classes & labs based on safety reasons, while also just not wanting them in the class at all. I think that's fair enough and I don't think anyone protested it either.
I think teachers just need to assess their class and decide on an individual basis. I think most do, anyway.

 

[BreakingHeart]

Phones are absolutely necessary for everybody, especially students. They might need to contact their parents/guardians for an emergency. It's also probably good for contacting other students who you may be doing an assignment with.

 

[ShinyUmbreon189]

Yes. A good parent would like to know where their child is at, and a disciplined child would notify their parents; so in short phones would allow good communication.

As in using the phone in class.. Not so much, unless it was an emergency.

In this day and age technology such as a phone is crucial. It's a device to stay connected with friends and family, or for business purposes. Without a phone, parents would be left worried if their child never came home. So having a phone reduces that anxiety if their child can just say, "Hey, I'm going *insert location or person here* after school today, I'll be home at blah blah blah".

Now, if a student was in class and focused on their phone and social media or games then they should be restricted of their phone. You are in school to learn, not socialize or play games.

 

[killer-curry]

Despite we are in 2016 where phone is basically a necessity for all of us, schools in over here however do not allowed phones usage in school. I think they have good reason to keep this ban.

Firstly, not many students are actually bring their phones for good use. They would just go ditching into phone games and addicted to it. This just makes the them to steer away their focus on study and resulting in poor academic performance. They basically learned nothing but Clash of Clans, just example.

Besides, recently there are videos that floating around social media about bullying, fighting and raping just makes the school authority to make the rules to be even more strict, " No Phones ". So students cannot upload these viral videos into the Internet, and somehow prevent this "yellow" culture to spreading around the school.

So as conclusion, phones are not allowed for school because students are not using for good use. Unless the teachers educate them to use phone wisely, then " phone ban " could be terminated because actually phones are very useful in wide range, not just playing games.

 

[Her]

Firstly, not many students are actually bring their phones for good use. They would just go ditching into phone games and addicted to it. This just makes the them to steer away their focus on study and resulting in poor academic performance. They basically learned nothing but Clash of Clans, just example.

Teachers are well aware that they're fighting against little screens for the attention span of their students. More teachers today are part of the same generation as the people they're teaching and are conscious of the attitudes they have. I'm not studying at the moment, but when I was studying to become a teacher and go into high school education, there was an entire seminar about how we were not going to win this fight. Sitting in on classes at a few schools taught the same thing - teachers can put blanket bans & blanket judgements on phone usage, but it won't stop anything. In the end, it just creates a more heinous distraction. The effort that goes into limiting and jumping on students for phone usage takes away from the class and is more detrimental to their learning than facilitating proper phone usage and incorporating them into the teaching environment. It's far more efficient to set ground rules and let the potential distraction be out in the open, rather than having zero attention span whatsoever when the student is spending all their effort trying to be sneaky without getting caught.

Besides, recently there are videos that floating around social media about bullying, fighting and raping just makes the school authority to make the rules to be even more strict, " No Phones ". So students cannot upload these viral videos into the Internet, and somehow prevent this "yellow" culture to spreading around the school.

These bans stop nothing. And more importantly, if these fights and apparent rapes are going to happen and be caught on video, then they're gonna wait until they're off school property. That's what happens here literally all the time and making phones the scapegoat does nothing.

Unless the teachers educate them to use phone wisely, then " phone ban " could be terminated because actually phones are very useful in wide range, not just playing games.

Glad we're on the same page.

 

[Midnight shadow]

I understand where people are coming from with having reliable communication options for children in school. However, how much of youth phone usage is to contact family members? I'm guessing less than 10%, with the other 90% being used for games and social media (i.e. things that you don't need in school). That to me is the biggest problem with smart phones. I work with a lot of 16-20 year olds who can't go more than an hour without checking their phones, which means they spend more time on them than on their work. This has a direct affect on me because I then have to work even harder to make up for their slacking off. It is very frustrating.

Instead of an outright ban to phones in schools, I propose a compromise: Allow children to bring their phones to school but have a program that disables wifi, games and 3/4G networking during school times. This will allow children to keep in contact with parents, etc when needed and stop them constantly looking at their phones at every opportunity during class.

 

[killer-curry]

But not every teachers are like that, some teacher still want their student to pay attention during class, not on the phone. Which I would think is a responsibility, to concern about their study.

Meanwhile, I do agree on this :

That to me is the biggest problem with smart phones.

Yeah, certainly smart phones has more features and better ways to communicate rather than the old phones which only provides audio call and sms. But, as I said it has a wide range of good uses, not on games and social.

 

[Etherion]

our school disallows us from taking our phones, but we take them anyway ^^

 

[Pebbles]

yes i think they should... because of this technology we are able to reach each other whenever , wherever
so we might as well make use of it, 24/7 . even at school.
wouldn't it be unfair if your kid doesn't know (or at least not right away) you been in an accident or something just because the school doesn't allow phones

the whole other side of it that it easily causes for kids not to pay attention during class.... thats another thing
but then again that is also not the fault of the phone
them kids have a choice
pay attention or not, easy as that​

 

[pastelspectre]

I'd like to think so, yes. At my school, it's much smaller and a private school. Students can bring their phones to school, but they can't use them throughout the day, only on the bus ride home and to school. Before when there was less drama at my school (long story, dumb bitches making unnecessary drama), we could use our phones anytime to listen to music. I do think that we should be able to, but only in moderation.

 

[Midnight shadow]

Maybe it's because of my exposure moreso to a college environment, but why should you care? IMO, let students bring their phones to school, and if they use it in class, that's fine. If they get distracted during a lecture, it's really on them to catch up on what they missed, and if this is a repeated occurrence, then they'll fail the class. It's really that simple; you can't force people to care if they don't want to care. The very least that you can do as an instructor is sit with a student and inform them of their poor choices to continuously use phones during important school lessons, but there's only so much a teacher can do.

As a teacher myself there is nothing more disheartening than spending literally hours preparing a lesson plan only to have your students ignore you when delivering it. A lot of teachers take great pride in their students and see the students as a reflection of themselves. If the student fails a class, the teacher has failed. It can also be dangerous especially in science classes during experiments where if the students aren't paying attention to the instructions because they are looking at their phones, they could injure not only themselves but those around them.

It's all very well saying it's the student's problem for not paying attention in class, but in all this we need to think about the teacher's perspective and feelings too. Too many people take teachers for granted when they work damn hard at it.

 

[RegalSin]

No you do not need phones at all. This is not a college realm. Even so phones need to be shut off otherwise that student needs to go to the principal and hear and recite a speech about wasting the class time.

In fact I am against phones but not the buddy system. Phones are too much. Teachers and students should not have any phones on them at all. Unless they are going to have a baby or for emergency reasons.

Sad fact that many parents have less IQ then there own children going to school. So it is impossible to say no to phones because of the stubborn parents. I saw an anti-phone protest/assembly with police dragging out the most negro looking students while the organizer ( a petite fat wasp girl ) with her blow-horn was given all the credit of bringing phones to her school.

I mean seriously people need to not bring phones at all to there school. If so they need to keep it off and shut it off ASAP. I am against phones being owned by students who are not able to afford them at all. You do not need phones in your school. I mean if a phone is okay then it is okay to have videogames in school as well.

I say if a teacher sees a phone they should whip out there phone and call the student parents AT THERE WORK PLACE TO TELL THEM THAT THERE CHILD IS USING THE PHONE IN THE CLASS AT THIS MOMENT. THE TEACHER SHOULD CALL THE PARENT AS MANY TIMES AS POSSIBLE UNTIL THE STUDENT GETS IT IN THERE HEAD THAT THEY SHOULD NOT BE USING PHONES AT ALL.

 

[Somewhere_]

In school is fine (in the hallways in between class, at lunch, etc), but probably not in class. I know some teachers collect phones at the beginning of class.

 

[Esper]

Not gonna lie, everyone saying "a phone is a necessity" and "you can't do anything about it" is kinda making me sad. I do think that too many people are too dependent on their phones, but that's not the phone's fault or the person's, but the world we live in where we're always being pressured with stressful messages and addicting distractions. A tiny computer in your pocket should be a great educational tool, but it rarely is. Everyone has one because they're told in one way or another that they need one, that they can't succeed without one, and that without one they're missing out.

Maybe it's because of my exposure moreso to a college environment, but why should you care? IMO, let students bring their phones to school, and if they use it in class, that's fine. If they get distracted during a lecture, it's really on them to catch up on what they missed, and if this is a repeated occurrence, then they'll fail the class. It's really that simple; you can't force people to care if they don't want to care. The very least that you can do as an instructor is sit with a student and inform them of their poor choices to continuously use phones during important school lessons, but there's only so much a teacher can do.

The trouble with a "let them screw up by not paying attention" attitude is that the teacher's job is to educate and student performance affects the teaching environment, which can be a detriment to other students. Plus teachers' evaluation are affected by student performance. Plus plus, most teachers really want to be teachers because they want students to learn. Imagine a parent who let their kid play video games all the time instead making them go to school because the kid didn't want to learn. Without a really good reason I'd call that bad parenting.

 

[Esper]

Anyway, I see things differently, and I guess that's fine, right? I find that the whole "teachers are evaluated based on how well their students are doing" is pretty much a flawed evaluation metric in and out of itself. If a student earns an F in that class, despite your best efforts as a teacher to encourage them to do a better job otherwise, does that still make you a ****ter teacher, or does that make them a ****ty student?

I didn't mean to say that I though this is how things should be, just how they are in a lot of places. I agree that it's not a good way to do things, but it does affect how teachers teach.

Anyway Scarf, you're right; we're living in an age whereas yes, cellphones are becoming more and more of a necessity, because it is. How I see things is that cellphones are more of a social educational tool rather than an academic educational tool. Obviously, in this day and age, they excel at both, but when you see teens texting each other and posting status updates on Facebook and selfies on instagram, they're gaining more and more useful social skills. When they're playing on their phones or doodling in class, they're focusing more on developing different aspects of their cognitive/abstract/social development, and I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing in and of itself, of course this comes with some compromises if you're posting Facebook status updates instead of paying attention to your lecture.

tl;dr it's really not the phones themselves that's the issue...it's how the individual utilizes said phone. If you're using your phone for productive purposes such as recording a lecture or taking down notes, I don't see that as a bad thing. If you're wasting time on it, you're trading off academic improvement for social improvement which is a whole 'nother area in and of itself, really.

It's really difficult to see this as a purely black and white issue for me. It's not as easy as saying "CELLPHONES ARE BAD, BAN THEM" when they have their own positive effects on learning development.

And when I play video games I'm developing hand-eye coordination? I mean, I guess, but only up to a point. I suppose there is value in doing all that stuff on phones, but how valuable is it and is it more valuable than other things they might be doing? I'd argue that the quality of anything learned through using facebook isn't going to compare to what you'll learn in person in a classroom because stuff on a phone or the internet is pretty prescribed and narrow as far as social interaction goes. What I mean is, it's all laid out in a certain way with no unexpected formats and it's all visual interaction (text and images) and maybe some audio. Plus you can limit your exposure to only the people you want to interact with. In person learning is more challenging and I think generally that means you learn more from it. Working with classmates you would never talk to helps you learn how to deal with people and seeing people helps you learn stuff to do with tone of voice, body language, etc. You learn how your facial expressions and posture affect your interactions. You can also learn listening skills by interactions with people face to face.

And I mean, yes, you're still in school and you'll get all that in-person experience anyway, but you'll also get all that phone-facebook experience when you're outside of school at home or wherever so what's the need to do it in school?

 

[Frequency]

for example, if you're teaching a class of 25 and half the class fails, there's gotta be something wrong with your material. Otherwise, you're teaching a class of 25 and only ~4/5 people fail the class or so, it's the students responsibility in that scenario and shouldn't really reflect on the teacher if the student hasn't taken initiative on their part.

This right here. I like this.

It can depend heavily on how we look at it too. Like in High School, we all know that teachers/staff enforce more rules when it comes to phones and stuff, but when you roll to College, you trying to get some adult to get off their phones is just outright silly cause they made the decision to forsake learning material by letting themselves be distracted. I feel like it's case-by-case though. Some teachers are cool with phones because of the potential advantages/uses (like for example, someone took notes and stored them on like a google doc cause it's easier to organise, and then they access it on their phones since they always have it on them and they happened to forget their notes or lose them or whatever situation have you), some don't because of the distraction involved.

At the same time though, kinda going off what Esper was saying, I don't feel like a teacher/professor should just say "well they chose to not take the material down and chose to be on their phones all day" cause they should want them to pass their class, and I'm not gonna sit and say that you should expect a student to have moderation when it comes to using their phones too much in class. But then we run into the "I shouldn't have to tell you that, you know what you came to class for" thing and that comes down to how each individual teacher teaches their class.

Of course then we could get into "why don't college professors just treat phones the same way in grade school? why is it only grade school that has such an enforcement on phones in class but that's another story

 

[Midnight shadow]

I'm sorry but I would argue that people who spend all their time on social media are losing their social interaction skills, not gaining them. Why? Because it's a completely different environment with very few consequences. Internet anonymity allows people to say pretty much whatever they want and not get punished for it. For example, if you say something racist on the internet, the most you'll get a lot of the time is a load of flaming clmments in return. These don't bother a lot of people who can just detach themselves from it and walk away. By contrast if you say those same tbings to someone in real life, chances are you'll end up in hospital with some broken bones.

That is the problem with social media. It gives people the chance to say things they would never get away with in real life. But kids don't realise this so they take the stufg they learnt on the internet and put it into real life. Now, you could argue that they aren't using the social media properly and you'd be right. But let's be real here. Most under 18s (and sometimes older) aren't responsible when it comes to many things. That's why we have age limits of tobacco and alcohol. Phones and social media are no different.