Cell Phone Bans In Schools

“Today, there are more than 5.9 billion mobile-phone subscriptions worldwide, and for every one person who accesses the internet from a computer, two do so from a mobile device”(“Making the Case for Mobile Tech”). Out of the around 7 billion people in this world, 6 billion have some sort of access to a mobile phone. More people have access to mobile phones then they have access to working toilets. Many of these phone users are teenagers that go to school. But when schools limit the cell phone use of teenagers in school, it puts a disadvantage on learning modern education. Despite the belief that cell phone bans are useful at eliminating technological distractions, cell phone bans should be eliminated because they are ineffective, unnecessary, …show more content…
The power of the cell phone can connect one person to unlimited amounts of services and people that they can use for just about anything. Many schools confiscate students’ cell phones and keep them for long periods of time. This is a way of regulation that is proven not useful. These phones are not school property which leads certain groups to question this way of regulation, “The groups say the confiscations are illegal and the devices need to be with their children for safety reasons, including communications during long commutes to school and to keep in contact with students during possible crises”(Rockwell). Parents give children cell phones mainly for safety reasons. Parents want to be able to communicate with their children with the touch of a few buttons. During a crisis, parents would want to be able to check if their child was okay right away. Especially in school with school shootings becoming more and more common, “Jefferson County is home to Columbine High School, where a 1999 shooting rampage by students Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris claimed more than a dozen lives. During the ordeal, students inside the besieged school used wireless phones to call their parents and let them know they were alive”(Rockwell). During the Columbine attack the students could connect with people outside of the school letting them know their current situation and how to get everyone out safely. If students were not allowed to have their …show more content…
However teachers haven 't grown up with all of this modern technology which makes it hard for teachers to incorporate the technology into teaching. In schools, administrators spend a good amount of time taking away phones, “Teachers’ negative reactions to cell phones may be in part due to their own unfamiliarity with the technology”(George and Cook). If schools familiarized their teachers with the technology that the students use it would make the classroom a much more productive