This is a very large topic. It will probably be a never ending argument though.

What are your opinions on this topic? Please use examples to support your argument.

I personally think that you should be able to use them with some restrictions. Like, pros- research, note taking cons- texting, talking

You should be allowed to use your phone during lunch, passing periods and before/after school. It's not disruptive or distracting, so why not?

During class, though, there's no reason to have your phone out.

Quote from Exilement

You should be allowed to use your phone during lunch, passing periods and before/after school. It's not disruptive or distracting, so why not?

During class, though, there's no reason to have your phone out.

What if it isn't disrupting the class? There's no reason to have your phone out during lunch either.

Quote from Fusion

Quote from Exilement;776652

You should be allowed to use your phone during lunch, passing periods and before/after school. It's not disruptive or distracting, so why not?

During class, though, there's no reason to have your phone out.

What if it isn't disrupting the class? There's no reason to have your phone out during lunch either.

pretty much this. I think cellphone usage should only be limited if it becomes an issue. At some point the burden of responsibility falls primarily on the teacher, the class should be challenging or engaging enough so that the students don't use cell phones of their own volition. If it is critical for a student to not use their cell phone during class for the student to get the grade they want, then the student will realize this and not use their cell phones.

class time is for learning, not for fucking texting. of course you want to text during class.
outside of class? why not

Quote from 2-D

class time is for learning, not for fucking texting. of course you want to text during class.
outside of class? why not

This. If you're on your phone then you're not paying attention. The school's entire job is to try to make you pay attention so of course it's right that they ban them during class.

Quote from 2-D

class time is for learning, not for fucking texting. of course you want to text during class.
outside of class? why not

Quote from Zed

This. If you're on your phone then you're not paying attention.

Again, let me make the point that it's not absolutely imperative that a student is paying attention 100% of the time during class. I'm not sure if that's even possible. In my highschool experience I had a lot of teachers who were OK with using cell phones during class, as long as it wasn't disruptive or disrespectful. If you pulled your cell phone out and sent a quick text, no harm done, you didn't miss anything important during the lecture, you didn't disrupt other students.

If you spent 5 minutes with your head down staring at your phone then they would likely just tell you to put it away. This method works a lot better than an outright ban. How would you even enforce a ban like that? In 10th grade biology class my teacher had a policy that if he saw you texting, he'd take the phone away and you could only get it back if a parent came with you to get it. This caused MUCH more disruption and inattentiveness than simply asking the student to put the phone away or allowing light cell phone usage during class time. When you got your phone taken away, you didn't pay attention to the lecture. You just paid attention to how much it sucked that you didn't have your phone and how much you hated the teacher.

In college, the teachers could care less what you do during lecture. They don't give a fuck. If you're interested in your education, you'll pay attention and do the work. Hell, they don't even care if you pay attention as long as you make the grade. With the exception of one professor I've never had anyone have a problem with me using my phone during class.

Quote from Zed

The school's entire job is to try to make you pay attention so of course it's right that they ban them during class.

Odd, I thought the school's job was to educate students? Regardless of what the school's job is the fact of the matter is that you can't MAKE a teenager do anything, especially something as demanding as paying complete attention. You can coerce them into doing it by various means and manipulation, but an outright ban of cell phones is ludicrous and simply causes more problems than it solves.

just because your ass isn't paying attention in class doesn't reserve you the right to fuck around on your phone.

Quote from 2-D

just because your ass isn't paying attention in class doesn't reserve you the right to fuck around on your phone.

I was responding to Zed when he said, "If you're on your phone then you're not paying attention. The school's entire job is to try to make you pay attention". My point is that it is unreasonable to expect anyone to pay complete attention the entire class period, not that a lapse in paying attention necessarily justifies "fucking around on your phone". I was evaluating the implication that the "job" of the school that he mentioned not only sets an unreasonable expectation for the students, but also sets an unreasonable expectation for the schools.

I'm not defending someone who is completely zoned out of the lecture or assignment playing angry birds on their phone or browsing facebook. At that point the phone usage transcends "lapse in attention" and becomes a source of voluntary distraction. At that point I agree that something should be done but I do not believe an outright ban to cell phone usage is the answer. I don't see any problem with a kid getting a text from a friend that says something like, "Hey meet me at the vending machines after 2nd period", reading it, and responding with something like "yeah man that sounds good". The total amount of time taken hardly exceeds 30 seconds let alone a minute, which isn't an amount of time that could possibly be considered absolutely critical to a student's learning. Imposing disciplinary action because of this would cause much more disruption and wouldn't just waste the time of the student who broke the rule, but also would waste the time of all of the other students for as long as it takes the teacher to deal with the problem.

A much more proactive way of combating cell phone usage would be making classes more mentally engaging. There are a lot of easy ways to do this that actually increase the educational benefit to the students. One possible way would be to have a printed set of lecture notes each period to be filled out by students (the only information already printed being the main bulletin points) that is graded and counts towards a significant amount of the grade. I had a teacher (a teacher who had a strict no cell phone policy, as a matter of fact) for my 12th grade history class who did this, and I can remember exactly the only 2 kids the entire semester to get into trouble for using their cell phones during class. Everyone was simply more concerned with getting a decent grade on the lecture notes than they were with texting.

I'm not trying to defend kids who use their cell phones during class, but it's idiotic to stick to a system that is disruptive, counter-productive to education, and ineffective simple because if "your ass isn't paying attention in class doesn't reserve you the right to fuck around on your phone" or "If you're on your phone then you're not paying attention". If it doesn't work then instead there should be an effort to find something that does work. Like I said, a ban isn't necessary if the teacher will simply ask a student to put their phone away if he/she feels it is inappropriate or too distracting.

I also just want to point out that in the highschool I attended for 11th grade there was a school-wide ban on cell phone usage during class. It ended up being a massive failure because half of the teachers didn't really give a shit if the students casually texted and the majority of the ones who did didn't give enough of a shit to actually enforce the rule. The "no hat" policy was redacted for the same reason. If you do have a school-wide ban on cell phone usage in class, how do you propose the administration enforce it effectively?

Another point to note is that High School and College/University classes do not work the same way. In college from what I understand classes are pretty much entirely lectures so it's pretty important that you listen to the teacher the entire time or at least most of it. There are times in high school, however, where the teacher assigns a worksheet or something and says "Okay this is your work now do it". If people are not listening to the teacher's lecture and they are just doing their own individual work, who is harmed by someone checking their boyfriend's facebook status for five seconds? I have literally never once had my work disrupted by someone texting their mother or some shit.

I think there's any problem using it on school, on mine, we can use it, except on classroom ofc.

Quote from Fractex

I think there's any problem using it on school, on mine, we can use it, except on classroom ofc.

that...its not allowed in the entire school...its just the court yard...if a phone rings in the class room...the teacher will take it...and hand it over to the headmaster and its owner will never see it again !

Again, let me make the point that it's n

ot absolutely imperative that a student is paying attention 100% of the time during class. I'm not sure if that's even possible. In my highschool experience I had a lot of teachers who were OK with using cell phones during class, as long as it wasn't disruptive or disrespectful. If you pulled your cell phone out and sent a quick text, no harm done, you didn't miss anything important during the lecture, you didn't disrupt other students.[/QUOTE]

I can't imagine a situation where it isn't disrespectful. A classroom is a personal enough environment that the teacher might as well be talking to you directly. It's rude to text while a friend is talking to you. It's equally rude to text while a teacher is talking. If your teachers didn't seem to care then it's only because you broke their spirits and they no longer gave a shit if you learned anything or not.

That's not a good thing.

If you spent 5 minutes with your head do

wn staring at your phone then they would likely just tell you to put it away. This method works a lot better than an outright ban. How would you even enforce a ban like that? In 10th grade biology class my teacher had a policy that if he saw you texting, he'd take the phone away and you could only get it back if a parent came with you to get it. This caused MUCH more disruption and inattentiveness than simply asking the student to put the phone away or allowing light cell phone usage during class time. When you got your phone taken away, you didn't pay attention to the lecture. You just paid attention to how much it sucked that you didn't have your phone and how much you hated the teacher.[/QUOTE]

The system was obviously designed to stop you getting the phone out in the first place. How stupid do you have to be to start texting in class when the teacher has that policy? It doesn't matter whether or not you paid attention after your phone has been taken away - it's outbalanced by the number of people who (should have) turned their phones off before class and forgotten about them completely.

In college, the teachers could [??!?!] care less what you do during lecture. They don't give a fuck. If you're interested in your education, you'll pay attention and do the work. Hell, they don't even care if you pay attention as long as you make the grade. With the exception of one professor I've never had anyone have a problem with me using my phone during class.

College [university] is different. You're there because you want to be and you're paying a shitload of money. Professors are there to provide a learning resource. They might as well be a film except you can ask them questions. Teachers on the other hand have a responsibility to drill shit into your brain whether you want it there or not. The classroom is also much more personal than a lecture theatre. There's about ten times more of you in the lecture theatre, and on average you're much further away.

Odd, I thought the school's job was to e

ducate students? Regardless of what the school's job is the fact of the matter is that you can't MAKE a teenager do anything, especially something as demanding as paying complete attention. You can coerce them into doing it by various means and manipulation, but an outright ban of cell phones is ludicrous and simply causes more problems than it solves.[/QUOTE]

Getting you to concentrate and educating you are obviously linked. I shouldn't have to point that out.

And what "problems" does it cause not being able to look at your facebook page or talk to your friends for an hour?

I was responding to Zed when he said, "I

f you're on your phone then you're not paying attention. The school's entire job is to try to make you pay attention". My point is that it is unreasonable to expect anyone to pay complete attention the entire class period, not that a lapse in paying attention necessarily justifies "fucking around on your phone". I was evaluating the implication that the "job" of the school that he mentioned not only sets an unreasonable expectation for the students, but also sets an unreasonable expectation for the schools. [/QUOTE]

Let's say we accept that it's impossible to pay attention 100% of the time. Does this mean that the school shouldn't try to maximise the amount of time you do pay attention for? Maybe the school should aim for 40% and then just call it a day once they've hit their target.

I'm not defending someone who is complet

ely zoned out of the lecture or assignment playing angry birds on their phone or browsing facebook. At that point the phone usage transcends "lapse in attention" and becomes a source of voluntary distraction. At that point I agree that something should be done but I do not believe an outright ban to cell phone usage is the answer. I don't see any problem with a kid getting a text from a friend that says something like, "Hey meet me at the vending machines after 2nd period", reading it, and responding with something like "yeah man that sounds good". The total amount of time taken hardly exceeds 30 seconds let alone a minute, which isn't an amount of time that could possibly be considered absolutely critical to a student's learning. Imposing disciplinary action because of this would cause much more disruption and wouldn't just waste the time of the student who broke the rule, but also would waste the time of all of the other students for as long as it takes the teacher to deal with the problem.[/QUOTE]

Or the student could keep his phone turned off until the end of the lesson. If every student in the class does that then the school can add another half hour to it's attention quota.

A much more proactive way of combating c

ell phone usage would be making classes more mentally engaging. There are a lot of easy ways to do this that actually increase the educational benefit to the students. One possible way would be to have a printed set of lecture notes each period to be filled out by students (the only information already printed being the main bulletin points) that is graded and counts towards a significant amount of the grade. I had a teacher (a teacher who had a strict no cell phone policy, as a matter of fact) for my 12th grade history class who did this, and I can remember exactly the only 2 kids the entire semester to get into trouble for using their cell phones during class. Everyone was simply more concerned with getting a decent grade on the lecture notes than they were with texting.

But as your example shows, having an

engaging class and being against mobile phones are not mutually exclusive policies.

I also just want to point out that in th

e highschool I attended for 11th grade there was a school-wide ban on cell phone usage during class. It ended up being a massive failure because half of the teachers didn't really give a shit if the students casually texted and the majority of the ones who did didn't give enough of a shit to actually enforce the rule. The "no hat" policy was redacted for the same reason. If you do have a school-wide ban on cell phone usage in class, how do you propose the administration enforce it effectively?[/QUOTE]

I kind of assumed we were dealing with the staff and the school as a single entity here. It doesn't really count as a ban if no one is enforcing it.


I'll accept Fusion's point that phones matter less if you've just been given some work to get on with rather than being talked to, so long as you do actually finish the work eventually.

Quote from THE RISER

that...its not allowed in the entire school...its just the court yard...if a phone rings in the class room...the teacher will take it...and hand it over to the headmaster and its owner will never see it again !

We had a teacher in 6th grade who was so strict. In one incident, a slut's phone starting playing a funny but profane song when Facebook decided to notify her. It was screeching stuff about b****es and hoes! Our teacher got really p'od and that phone had to be given to the girls parents with an explanation of how she got it.

Zed you're being an asshole and a prick and your points are unnecessarily totalitarian and your opinion is far too uncompromising for me to want to speak to you right now.

Quote from Fusion

Another point to note is that High School and College/University classes do not work the same way. In college from what I understand classes are pretty much entirely lectures so it's pretty important that you listen to the teacher the entire time or at least most of it. There are times in high school, however, where the teacher assigns a worksheet or something and says "Okay this is your work now do it". If people are not listening to the teacher's lecture and they are just doing their own individual work, who is harmed by someone checking their boyfriend's facebook status for five seconds? I have literally never once had my work disrupted by someone texting their mother or some shit.

College is sort of different in that way. For instance, I never text during my calculus class because it is absolutely necessary to maintain a high level of attention. It is also only 50 minutes long (even though it is 5 days a week). I do have some classes however, like my data structures and algorithms class on mondays and wednesdays. That class is and hour and 45 minutes long and it starts at 5:30pm after I've already been at school for 8 hours. In all honesty if I don't use my phone during class some days I will fall asleep sitting up (actually happens on a fairly regular basis, 5:30pm happens to be a bad time for me).

College is also different in that you have a modified perspective about classes. Most of your time spent on academic activities (by "most" i mean around 3/4 of your "academic" time) is spent on your own doing homework, projects, or studying. I spend a total of around 15 hours actually in class every week, but I spend at least 20 hours a week just doing homework and projects. My study time varies depending on when i have tests but is probably an average of 8-10 hours per week ( much higher during midterms and finals). This has led to me adopting an attitude that is much more centered on paying attention during the entire class period, simply because it represents a fairly small amount of my total scholarly activities.