Harm_of_Cellphones

Harm of Cell Phones in School I would like to address an important issue that is happening in schools all around cell phones. Using cell phones is harmful for students in many ways; causing interruptions in class is one of them. Many students and teachers have experienced cell phones ringing in the middle of class. That is a big problem that cell phones bring to class; when it rings, it can catch people’s attention and disrupt the whole class. Many teachers say that some students will answer the call right away in the class. Some research shows that when children get distracted, it will take them nineteen minutes to get their attention back to the class. It’s not only for students; teachers can also get affected from this kind of disruption.  Just like the ringing, texting is another source that can cause interruption in class. Students often think classes are tedious so they want to get out the classroom and hang out with their friends, but they cannot do that; texting helps them to have conversations with other people without talking even if they are in class. When they are texting, they concentrate on it and are not paying any attention to the class and the lecture, and even the noises that texting makes can annoy other students around. Using cell phones can interrupt the user self and other people in the classroom, so it is another reason that cell phones should be banned in school. Many parents think that it is better if their children carry cell phones with them during school hours. Parents give their children cell phones because they want to contact them to make sure they are safe. However, parents do not need to be concerned about their children’s safety when they are in school because protecting students is one of the school’s responsibilities. In any case of emergency, schools are the ones who have responsibilities to take care of the children and make sure they are safe. Moreover, teachers or school staff will be the ones who contact the parents and explain the situation to them when necessary. Parents should trust the schools and help them to do their job, which is to keep students safe and teach well. Another disadvantage of allowing students to bring cell phones to school is that cell phones can be used for cheating. Cell phones’ functions are updated very fast and often; newer and better ones keep coming out. Many cell phones can connect to the internet and store information, so some students take the cell phone out to check the information while they are taking tests. Sometimes, they even use texting to cheat which is to send messages to other people to ask for answers. Any kind of cheating is not acceptable, and banning cell phones in schools is a way to avoid cheating. Besides causing interruptions and using for cheating, cell phones can also be used as status symbols. Many students bring cell phones to school and use them as status symbols to compete with each other. This kind of negative competition can cause envy, hatefulness, and even stealing among student body. Some students may have newer phones and use that as an excuse to put someone else down. And then the students that got put down get jealous and may steal the phone. In conclusion, using cell phones in school can cause interruptions in classes and can be used for cheating and status symbols. New technology and inventions have changed people’s lives a lot, but these changes also include some negative ones. Many children and teens now have phones and the consequences of it are more negative than positive for young children, so schools should ban cell phones to provide a better learning environment to students.