The Controversial Issue Of Cellphone's Use By Students At School

Cellphone’s use by students at school has become a controversial issue for the educational system in today's society. Most teachers and school administrators believe that cellphones are disruptive. Although school officials ruled policies to prohibit using the cellphones during class time, students carry them all the time in class. The text messaging, calling and even browsing the net during class time caused them to be distracted and be uninterested in learning. In other word, students who pay too much attention to their cellphones become uninterested in learning during class lectures and they would like socializing more than listening to the lectures . This behavior can also affect others in class and distract them. Many school boards have

Many students use text messaging to cheat on tests. They can easily ask a friend to help them by sending the question via text message to someone who can look up the answer and send it back. The development of cellphones helps students to access to the internet and look up for appropriate answers to their questions on the tests. There is a new service called Cha-cha that worries school administrators because it allows users to text any questions to the network and get back the answers in a shortly time. Donald L. McCabe, a Rutgers University management professor “believes that only a small number of students are brazen enough to use a service like Cha-cha to get answers during an exam, Mr. McCabe says it is easy for students to become addicted to cheating. And once some start doing it, others often follow” (McCabe, Donald). This method can easily spread among the students because a lot of students would feel that they have to cheat to not be left behind, as Mr. McCabe said. This improvement of cellphones can also make some students to be less responsible for preparing themselves for their tests and they would depend to their phones all the time. They would prefer to use the internet on the tests from their phones rather spending time and studying at home. In addition, students can take a picture of the exams and spread them in school. Since many

Many parents think it is necessary for their children to have cellphones with them for after school rides and also for keeping track of their children. As Minnetonka Principal David Adney said, "I can see advantages of students having camera phones - to take photos at a homecoming dance or prom, or to prove to parents that they really are where they say they are"(Adney, David). Parents also concerns that their teens might have an emergency issue in school and they can contact their parents immediately. In my opinion, students do not need cellphones in school time because schools already have phones that help students contact their parents in case of emergency. Also, if the parents need contact their children, they are able to do that through the school. After all these, most cellphones have cameras and this issue presents an invasion of privacy in schools. Some students that have camera phones put them in bad use. They may take pictures or videos of other students that are changing their clothes in the gym or locker room and spread them in school. This may happen to the teachers, as well. As Mr. Collier said, “he would not tolerate being filmed or photographed by students in or out of the classroom. Teachers are humans, individuals and want to protect their privacy” (Collier, Peter). Some students make fun of their teachers and make videos of students playing practical jokes on teachers