Should Children Carry Cell Phones To School? - Essay Sample

Introduction

Currently, the number of students carrying cell phones to school has increased dramatically. Many of the teens take their cell phones to schools regardless of any prohibitions in place. Various argument surrounds the possession of cell phones by children in school, and some teachers and learners insist that cell phones are disrupting. However, a substantial number of parents and learners claim that phones are essential. Most of the schools nowadays allow the students to bring their cell phones but need them to be switched off during classes as they can disrupt and distract the learning process. Therefore, allowing children to carry phones to school has negative and positive impacts. The effects addressed are research and learning aids, disruption during the learning process and use in the course of an emergency.

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Students utilize their cell phones for research and learning aids. Students can use the cell phones for research or download apps that may provide them with extra information on what they learn in class. Cell phones are a learning aid because they have applications that enable visual representations of technical topics and subjects. Students can also use their cellphones as a dictionary to find the meaning of a word within a short period and save time searching for a word in the dictionary. Technology is advancing each day, and both students and teachers need to embrace the change regarding the learning process.

Disruption during learning is a common phenomenon among children with cellphones in class, which can distract both teachers and students. The widespread accessibility of unlimited texting plans and communication performs significantly transformed the communication patterns of a more significant population of teen students in America. A substantial portion communicates with their friends through texting than calling. In the case where the student's phone is on, receiving a text message will destruct the concentration of the student when the teacher is teaching. Technological developments have led to the invention in entertainment applications in cell phones. Children are often addicted to phone games when learning is in progress, and students might be tempted to play games installed on their devices or watching and listening to music. Such students are not able to respond to a question that a teacher might pose to them. Therefore, children possessing cell phones in school waste a lot of their quality time in class meant to study with their cellphones that might lead to poor performance in examinations.

Emergency in schools has resulted in parents to issue school going kids cellphone to school. Phones play a critical role in cases of emergencies or crisis where students can use their phones to call 911 to inform their parents about their safety. A mass text distributed among students in middle or high school would assist direct them during an emergency. Teachers could send messages directing students to vacate a building if an invader was in the opposite side of the block. During a crisis such as an attack, sending messages to teachers, parents, and students with facts will assist quell rumors and help manage parents' traffic at the school. The usefulness of cellphone during emergencies is partly the reason why schools in several districts allow phones in school.

Conclusion

Cellphones have both positive and negative impact to school going children considering how and where it is used. Phones are essential devices in the current world. Therefore, children should carry cellphones to school. Nonetheless, the school administration should create a regulation that gives children the mandate to bring phones to school, but they should ensure that the phone remains switched off throughout the school day and allow usage during no instructional periods such as lunch or break. The regulations should include restrictions to text messaging, internet and photo taking and ensuring the rule is zero tolerance.