Should the Cell Phones Be Allowed in Schools

Most students spend an average of 2-4 hours a day on their phones. A common debate going on right now is if kids/teens should be allowed to have their phones out during class. Some people say that students should be allowed to have their phones out during class because it could be a useful learning tool or help them stay organized. Others would argue that students should not be allowed to have their phones out during class because it could cause distractions, cheating, or inability to focus or stay focused. It is clear that students should not be allowed to have their phones out during class. 

A main reason why students should not be allowed to have their phones out during class because it could cause inability to focus or stay focused. Some students already have a hard time focusing in class, so if students had their phones out in class, it would be even harder for those students to even try to focus. When a notification, or a phone call goes off in a classroom, it could easily cause a student that was working or studying to lose their focus. Even if it was not your phone going off in class, you could easily wonder what other people's notifications were and it would distract you from focusing on your work. If students were to play games during class, it would prevent them from being able to focus on their school work or their teachers lessons because they would only be focused on their game. Phones during class cause students to be unable to focus or stay focused, but phones in class can also cause students to cheat. 

Another reason that phones should not be allowed in school is because phones could also lead to cheating. Students could text an answer to another student or ask another student for an answer. Or students could look the answer up instead of asking other students for the answers. Students could also take notes on their phone and then look at their notes during class. If students do any of these things, they aren’t going to fully understand the subject, and they could even get caught cheating which could get them in serious trouble. Therefore, phones in school should not be allowed because it could cause students to cheat. 

Many other people say that phones should be allowed during class. They could say it improves organization or could increase convenience. If students kept an agenda in their phone it would keep them more organized, or students could have online textbooks so that they wouldn’t have to carry 2-5 books around. However, if students have a paper agenda, and have to get it signed by a parent (guardian, etc.), it would be easier to have a paper agenda so that whoever signs the students agenda wouldn’t have to do some crazy signature on the students phone. Also, having a paper agenda that has to get signed, causes students to remember to do their homework and keep them more organized than if they had an agenda on their phone. If students have online textbooks, too, things could get unorganized. The fact of having textbooks on your phone is overrated because carrying textbooks around forces students to get some exercise and it also forces students to do their work, rather than looking at “textbooks” on their phone which could cause students to get distracted by notifications, phone calls, etc. Although phones during class could improve organization and increase convenience, the tools students use now, such as paper agendas and textbooks, are good enough and don’t need to be on a phone. 

Phones should not be allowed during class because phones could cause inability to focus or stay focused, and could cause students to cheat. Phones during class could cause inability to focus or stay focused because notifications, phone calls, etc., could cause a student to not be able to focus or lose their focus. Some students already have a hard time focusing in class so phones during class could make it even harder for those students to focus. Phones during class could also cause students to cheat by students sending other students answers or asking other students for the answers. Or students look the answers up online. The right thing for schools to do, is to not allow phones to be out during class.