Recently, students are debating whether cell phones in school should be banned or not. According to the National Education Association, cell phones can be useful for emergency purposes and it allows us to connect with our family members and friends. But on the other side of the debate students argue that cell phones can have a negative effect on our health and lifestyle.
Dale Andrews is a social studies teacher at Iselin Middle School. Andrews thinks that cell phones in school should be banned as a policy because it can improve the learning process of students. It also allow students to not get distracted on the cell phone and helps them to focus effectively during class.
“Activities to implement in school are playing educational related games. Educational games can allow students to communicate with each other effectively and also learn. By having educational games it is making the learning process more enjoyable for students,” Andrews said.
Consequences of having a cellphone in school is that students constantly take pictures of themselves and they would always focus on the cellphone and not on their surroundings. If that happens then it can be a threat to the community including social media platforms as a whole.
“Always getting cell phone notifications in bed is one of the main reasons for cell phone distraction in students. It can affect a student’s overall health, and it also causes a disturbance in sleep,” Andrews said.
Andrew’s main advice for students is to leave their cell phones in their lockers so that they wouldn’t be tempted by the notifications. Leaving cell phones in lockers helps students to increase their focus and concentration in class.
Andrews informs that students in class can try to socialize with each other so that they can learn about each other’s backgrounds and cultures. By socializing we can create unity and have close relationships.Being on a device can also cause less social interaction with people and not collaborate with other students.
“Some advantages of banning cell phones in school is that students would be able to read books and they would be able to collaborate on school assignments. By doing that students can be able to gain more knowledge and improve their communication skills,” Andrews stated.
“However cell phones can be useful because students can be able to text their parents and other family members who are really close to us,” Andrews mentioned.
The cell phone bans can be enforced since students can be involved in the community. Volunteering in the community allows students to help people who are really in need. By volunteering students can be closer and united with the community.
Cell phones can impact a person’s behaviour since the person would try to interrupt a student constantly in class. A person might make students play games on their phone without the teacher even noticing during the class period.
“If the student doesn’t have a phone they may be able to ask the front office for help.The front office is happy to help students and reach out to our parents safely in case of an emergency,” Andrews responded.
