Phones have become a part of our reality. We often wake up and hold that little device before eating breakfast or drinking water. We use them so much that we don’t realize how much of a distraction they have become. The internet is a vast source of information so extensive that when we don’t have our phones, we feel disconnected from our world. All we have to do is open our eyes and experience the world around us. Most people feel the need to bring them out even when we’re at places like schools. The teachers could be talking but have a majority of students stuck like glue to the phones.
Mental health also plays a big part. Some kids are so into their phones that they can barely engage in the lesson. Notifications negatively disrupt the student’s focus in school. It could go as far as grades being dropped because of the lack of focus during academic instruction.
Distractions and Benefits:
Why do students feel the need to have their phones on them? Kids are now always on their phones; it’s a part of their lives. And when something is a part of your life, you feel empty when it’s taken away and need it every day. Even adults feel like this; it’s a part of our reality. And during school, if phones are allowed, what will stop kids from constantly checking their phones and social media even during academic learning?
Even teachers notice the constant distraction electronic devices make during school hours. Ms. McHale, a 6th-grade teacher at WMS stated, “… they’re too busy on their phones then they’re not engaged and I think now we could put the devices away, even the Chromebooks could be distracting.” She also explained that she prefers to use paper for her students to prevent disrupting lessons with the electronics.
Although kids could have better digital content, they are better off with restricted devices.
Dayana Reyes, a 7th-grade student at WMS wants to have cell phones in schools, “It could be distracting but at the same time it could help them at some point because I feel like there could be a website the school could allow us to use that could help them understand certain things.” Although this could be true, we have teachers in schools giving the students the proper education and most schools have laptops with restrictions on them that will still provide the students with additional sources of academic information.
Mr. Panko, the principal at WMS backs up this argument and states, “… we give every one of our students a Chromebook and that should be able to give them all the digital resources that they need.” This shows us that schools supply students with the digital content they need without having the use for students to use personal devices. Also, research shows that 80% of teachers think that phones are a distraction during school.
What Are People Doing Around the Country?:
Phones during school are a problem all around the country, what are these states doing about it? All around the country schools ban phone usage. Multiple townships see the disastrous destruction behind electronics used in schools. Statistics show that 4 in 10 public schools report that students using phones during school is negatively impacting their learning and a growing number of states are implementing state-wide bans on phones all around the country.
Schools started banning phones decades ago. It started with pager devices banned from schools, thinking students made drug deals over them. It has changed drastically ever since. State-wide cell phone bans have been making their way all around the United States. Multiple states have been signing different acts and laws that prohibit cell phone use during school hours.
Mr. Panko shared his opinion on these statistics.
Mr. Panko answered, “I think what happens is phones, especially in the learning environment can let people be unfocused and they worry about stuff or outside concerns that you might not necessarily need at the time.” These distractions outside of school cause a decline in mental health and lead to districts prohibiting phone usage.
How it Impacts our Mental Health:
Phones during and after school bring students into a black hole of addiction. Using a phone is one thing but an addiction to a phone is another. Phone usage for kids could cause multiple problems for a student’s mind and health. It could disturb sleeping and cause them to neglect certain responsibilities. All the problems these phones make for kids all relate to school. Neglected responsibilities could lead to neglect of schoolwork. When students slack off it could lead to poor grades.
Phones also play a big part in cyberbullying
Phone usage like that doesn’t only destroy our mental health. Cyberbullying also plays a big part. Phones in school could lead to cyberbullying. An example is people could record a kid during school and post it online for clout. This video may drop the kid’s self-esteem and make them very insecure. According to my research, nearly 42% of kids have been cyberbullied before and one in four people has been cyberbullied more than once. That shows the way phones implement these types of acts since we have infinite access to the internet. And with infinite access to the internet during school hours, it could cause all sorts of complications like these.
Conclusion:
By making one simple change to our school, we could solve all these problems. Kids continually sneak and use phones all around school premises even if they’re in a learning environment.
Districts, do you want your students to be successful during school hours? If you do, consider banning phones from the schools. Thousands of students all around the country are dependent on their phones therefore causing these types of distractions which can destroy a student’s grades and mental health. Don’t we want our students to be superior at what they do and not only have the knowledge of social media? While cell phones were once a dream device, they are now ironically killing the dreams of our students.
