Phones in School | Teen Ink

Phones in School

January 8, 2016
By Anonymous

“Give me your phone right now! I told you a thousand times to stay off your phone during school!” Mr. Durant  hissed as I aggressively handed him  my phone,sat down and pouted. “Phones should be allowed in school because  they help save money, you can use them for emergencies, and students would be optimistic about learning.”


The school board won’t have to spend money on laptops or netbooks if the students could pull their mini computers out of their pockets and look up whatever they need to. Instead, the school board could use that money to fix the bathrooms or lockers. Cell phones are not connected with the school's wi-fi like the laptops are. There are already a ton of electronics connected to the wi-fi which causes the connection the get weaker. The weaker the connection, the more it cost to fix it. Cell phones don’t need the connection. By having phones in the school, we won’t have to have so many electronics making the connection weaker than it already is. The staff can disconnect the computers and the internet connection won’t be as weak as it was.   (“kwikboost"). As seen, phones in school don’t need the schools network. The laptops do need the network and all the laptops are causing the network to crash half the time. By allowing phones in school, the network will not crash and the staff will not have to pay an electrician to fix it. It has been said that phones are a distraction to the students that use it and the student near. The truth is students are just as distracted sitting next to their friends in the classroom. Basicly, if phones aren't allowed in school, we shouldn’t be able to sit next to our friends. But know this, by sitting us next to someone we don’t know could cause us to talk to each other and become friends. Or, we will be tempted to talk across the room which will cause a bigger disruption to the class (Laserfiche ). Phones in schools have the same use as a computer but in a smaller form. What is the point of buying thousands of computers when you have one in your pocket? Schools pay over $1000 on laptops and computers. The students don’t use the computers a lot at all so it is a huge waste of money on buying that many computers. Schools could save so much money by allowing the students to use their phones in school (Laserfiche). Not only do phones in schools save money, they also improve security. Speaking of emergencies, phones also can be used incase of an emergency.


There have been plenty of school shootings and schools being taken over by a criminal. If that ever happened to your school you could call the police to come help you. If there was an attack at a school, the school can send an emergency call/text to the police instantly. The police will come to the school as soon as possible and stop the attack before anyone gets hurt. (Laserfiche). Phones in schools can easily be used to call the police or some other emergency contact. “Since the 1999 Columbine High School shootings and the 9/11 terrorist attacks, many parents feel better having a way to contact their children. But hundreds of students on cell phones during an emergency can cause problems for responders."There's a huge difference between feeling safer and being safer," says Kenneth Trump, president of National School Safety and Security Services.According to Trump, students' cell phone use during emergencies can do three things: increase the spread of rumors about the situation, expedite parental traffic at a scene that needs to be controlled and accelerate the overload of cell-phone systems in the area (“kwikboost"). Parents feel better about their kids going to school with a phone because of all the bad things that go on in schools all around the world.Everywhere around the world, schools have been shot at, taken over by a criminal.


Finally, students will be happy to learn. No more whining about going to school and school work. “According to a study conducted in 2005, Sonja Lyubomirsky, Laura King, and Ed Diener found that happiness causes success. Therefore if we keep students, grades k-12, happy they will be more willing to learn, more productive, and more likely to succeed. And isn’t that what everyone wants?”(Laserfiche”). The students would enjoy learning if they were able to use their phones for music, or research.


On the other hand , people believe that phones should not be allowed in schools because it is a distraction. Although that may be true, they forget that the staff members and teachers use their phones’ through the entire school day for reasons not involving school in any way. Others say that since middle schoolers are so young, they might forget their phone in a classroom and it most likely will be stolen. With the technology we have today, of someone loses their phone or it is stolen, they can easily search “find my phone” on Google and they get their phone back no problem.


Coming to conclusion, allowing phones in school can make a huge difference for the staff, teacher, and students. Phones were made to communicate, search for things on the web, and to entertain. Everyone loves to feel happy. you can’t feel happy if a teacher takes something you love. In this case, your phone. The school board needs to consider the idea of allowing phones in school. Honestly, this would be an improvement on schools all around the world.

 

Sources Cited

Laserfiche. “Schools Turn to Technology to Save Money | Laserfiche.” Laserfiche. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Jan. 2016.
 



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