A Theme of Cell Phones in Modern World

 Cell phones, as interesting as they may be, raise the question as to whether or not they should be allowed in school.  Many schools across the country are lifting bans on cell phone use during class hours.  Although there are two sides to the argument, the costs of allowing phones in school outweigh the benefits. Some examples of costs of cell phone use in school are as follows: they may be used to cheat, students can access and share dangerous or inappropriate information, and they are disruptive.

The first problem with cell phones is that it is simple to cheat and hard to detect.  The Benson Strategy said that in 2009, 35% of students used their phones to cheat on tests.  This advantage is simply unfair to the students who do not cheat.  Additionally, another study supports this claim.  This study was  done by The USN.  The study asked students if they had stored information for tests on their phones.  The study revealed that 33% of students did cheat by storing information for tests on their cell phones.  Additionally, students cheated on their homework or test by texting their classmates.  Although there is really no good solution to using cell phones to cheat outside the classroom, it just shows the extent of students' laziness.  These studies show how devices make it very easy to cheat.

Using a cell phone is a continuous thing we do in our everyday life..  From searching the web or shopping to texting or watching videos, there is always a reason to be on your phone.  However, access to the internet and texting can be harmful to students.  Pew Internet conducted a study that showed 65% of students search the web during class time.  Also, searches on the web can be dangerous and inappropriate for younger students.  The following piece of evidence goes along with the first one.  The University of Michigan found that 71% of students have received texts in class.  Students can use texts to share inappropriate information or cyber bully their classmates.  Therefore, the dangers of internet access through cell phones does not belong in schools.

As phones become progressively more popular, they also become more distracting.  Media Education conducted a survey of 675 students which says that students check their phones  at least eleven times a day.  The results of this survey become very problematic for students if they are not paying attention in class.  Use of cell phones during class time may cause students to not listen to the lesson, which may result in bad grades.  Not paying attention is especially problematic in older students, where grades matter much more for college acceptance.  The following study's results falls right in line with the earlier one.  According to Pew Central, 88% of kids from thirteen to eighteen have access to a phone.  This means a majority of students own a phone, which they will most likely bring to school.  The many distractions of having a digital device in school are numerous, which does not create a good work environment. 

An emergency is one situation where cell phones may be useful in class.  School shootings are becoming a more common occurrence in today's society.  According to Youth Beast, one in ten kids from the ages of six to ten have cell phones in school for emergencies.  The students could use these cell phone to tell the police or their parents if there is an emergency.  Additionally, one high school has shown another way cell phones can help prepare for an emergency.  Chardon High School is teaching their students the code word ALICE.  It means alert, lockdown, inform, and evacuate.  Cell phones assist everyone in this process by texting the students to evacuate.  However, even though cell phones help during emergencies, they are not useful in school for many other things.

Although cell phones are very popular, they have no place in school.  They are very distracting to other students.  Students like to cheat on test and homework with them.  Lastly, phones are connected to the web, which can be very harmful.  Phones should not be allowed in school, because there are fewer pros than cons.

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