"Having" and "Using" a cell phone in class are two dissimilar things. Having a cell phone is advantageous and can be beneficial in distinct circumstances but its use in class should be banned, save for emergency situations. Tasteless users of cell phones are high school and college students. This discussion will focus on them.
Having a cell phone in school can be helpful. It can be used to call for help during an emergency. The Columbine incident is an example. But, students should be strictly instructed to turn off their phones and leave those in their book bags when they are in class. Many colleges forbid cell phones in testing centres because of the risk of cheating. The temptation would be so strong to text for help in a difficult question and that would be an unfair edge over those without any cell phone. In the end, the one tempted gets the losing end - s/he lost the opportunity to learn to think for themselves.
Inside the classroom the cell phone could be distracting. Having it turned off will encourage more focus and facilitate a great studying ambience. The phone could in fact be turned back on at lunch break or in the middle of classes, if just to retrieve messages from home or work. In emergency cases, the phone is there to be used.
Using a cell phone in class, that's a fully dissimilar story. Students would be texting each other or taking/making calls when they should be participating and listening in class discussions. This upsets the milieu of the whole class. Students who want to participate in discussions and in fact learn and the teachers who are bent on in fact teaching would be very frustrated, and annoyed. There is no need for students to receive calls in class. In a real family emergency, parents could resort to calling the school and having their child summoned to the office. This ideas worked for generations before the cell phone. It very well should still work. In the office, the trainee could use the office phone to speak with his/her parent or be allowed to use their cell phone to do so. It is pointless for a trainee to be using cell phones in the class. If they do, they are plainly distracting the rest, ignoring the lessons, cheating, playing games, all of which they should not be doing while in class!
Cell phones are invaluable today, but their use should be regulated in the approved time and place. It is not approved to use a cell phone in class; there is no logical rationale for its use in class. It will still be there to be used during approved times - before, in in the middle of and after classes.
School authorities should collaborate with the community and the parents on having dell phone use in class forbidden evenly.
When Should Cell Phones Be Allowed in School?
