Cell Phones in School Essay Sample

Martin Cooper once said, “The best way to get people to think outside the box is not to create the box in the first place.” Many are unaware of who he is, but we know him as the inventor of the cell phone. This quote can define cell phone use in school. Why should a metaphorical box be put around cell phones in a school setting? Around 5 billion people in the world use a cell phone; people use cell phones every day for tasks like making calls and using search engines. If cell phones had not been invented, society would not be as advanced as it is today. According to Tibi Puiu, cell phones are so technologically advanced that they are more adept (very skilled or proficient at something) than the computers used in the Apollo 11 mission. Cell phones should be allowed in school because you can use educational apps, it can help schools save money and can provide easy access to information since school history textbooks aren’t up-to-date. 

Educational apps can be a useful tool in a classroom environment. According to a survey found on campustechnology.com, 75% of students believe that using personal devices in the classroom has improved their ability to learn and retain information. If students believe that using phones in the classroom works, then why do many educators advocate to refrain from the use of cellphones in classrooms? Phones have many great educational apps like Quizlet, Kahoot, and Quizzes. According to educationcorner.com, “In almost any profession, you are going to need to use computers. Using education apps prepares children to use technology. Many of the skills necessary to use apps are the same abilities they will need to perform everyday tasks and certain job functions. Children who do not have computers at home have the chance to develop their technology skills at school.” Cell phones allow for children to gain skills using technology. Every job requires the use of technology, so cell phones being allowed in school teaches the use of technology. These are all great examples to help students to study. Educational apps are one of the many brilliant uses of cell phones in school.

Cell phones can help schools save money; according to the Center for Digital Democracy, “80% of high school students in the United States have a cell phone.” That means 4 out of 5 high school students have a cell phone. Because most students already have a cell phone and while also knowing phones have more technology than a school Chromebook, why are Chromebooks necessary? Using cellphones in school can save schools’ money because there will not be a need to purchase Chromebooks to loan to students. According to A. J. Green, “By allowing cell phone usage, the ability to access the Internet will become much easier and will help schools save money." Because of this, schools will not have to rely on the I.T. department so much since everyone is just using their cell phones. Schools can use the extra money they save from using cell phones to pay teachers more. Schools using cell phones to save money are one of the many outstanding uses of cell phones in school. 

Cell phones should be allowed in school because they can provide easy access to information since school textbooks aren’t up to date with information. According to Claudia Wallis, “Curiously, the students themselves were unaware of this advantage. In fact, after answering comprehension questions, 69% said they believed they had performed better after reading on a computer.” Why should teachers be able to decide for students the way they should learn? This article shows that most students would rather have an online textbook than a physical one. If you went to a school history textbook that hasn’t been updated recently, you would not see things like COVID-19 or the stock market crash in 2020. Using a cell phone, you can easily go online and search for the newest history textbook with updated information. Using cell phones instead of school textbooks also saves money, since schools do not have to pay money each year for updated textbooks. This way allows students to be informed about what is happening in the world. Although students could use their phones to cheat, if teachers are strict about their rules, then students are less likely to cheat. If a student does cheat, a teacher can send that student to an administrator, which would not only make that student not cheat again, but will also show the other students what happens when they cheat too. Schools using cell phones to provide updated information is one of the many brilliant uses of cell phones in school. 

Cell phones should be allowed in school because you can use educational apps, it can help schools save money and can provide easy access to information since school history textbooks aren’t up-to-date. Cell phones are a great tool that we all underestimate. We have been blessed with this technology and we do not use it to its full extent. If our cell phones have more technology than what was used to send people to space, then why are we not implementing this technology in the classroom? Cell phones are only going to get more advanced, so why can’t we do the same? We should at least let the students pick how they want to learn. So, I encourage you to call your local school superintendent and tell them that cell phones should be used more in the classroom. Chuck Grassley once said, “What makes a child gifted and talented may not always be good grades in school, but a different way of looking at the world and learning.”

Works Cited

Guest Editorial. “Schools Should Embrace Cell Phones as Learning Tools Instead of Banning Them.” Pennlive, 10 Oct. 2009, www.pennlive.com/editorials/2009/10/schools_should_embrace_cell_ph.html Accessed 11 Mar. 2022.

Kelly, Rhea. “Survey: Cheating Concerns in Online Courses Have Eased -.” Campus Technology, 27 Jan. 2022, campustechnology.com/articles/2022/01/27/survey-cheating-concerns-in-online-courses-have-eased.aspx.Accessed 11 Mar. 2022.

Loveless, Becton. “Are Learning Apps Helping or Hurting Education?” Education Corner, www.educationcorner.com/learning-apps-helping-hurting-education.html.  Accessed 11 Mar. 2022.

Puiu, Tibi. “Your Smartphone Is Millions of Times More Powerful than the Apollo 11 Guidance Computers.” ZME Science, 13 May 2021, www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/smartphone-power-compared-to-apollo-432/.Accessed 11 Mar. 2022. 

Wallis, Claudia. “A Textbook Dilemma: Digital or Paper?” The Hechinger Report, 8 Apr. 2021, hechingerreport.org/textbook-dilemma-digital-paper.Accessed 11 Mar. 2022.