Shut Down Your Screen Week Research Paper

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Imagine you are in class, and various students pull out their phones while the teachers are giving a lesson.What do you do? This situation has become a constant and teachers have proposed “Shut Down Your Screen Week” for the better of students and their peers. Some people may believe that this idea is a good and beneficial event, but others may argue that it is bad and hopeless. Both teachers and students will have to decide if “Shut Down Your Screen Week” is a profitable event for everyone. Therefore, our school Eastmont High School should participate in the national movement known as “Shut Down Your Screen Week” because electronic devices are distracting, affecting to the brain, and addicting.
To begin with, unfortunately cell phones and new technologies are actually a distraction in our modern day society. I have been in class and heard a students phone ring and it interrupted the teacher while she was giving a lesson. Cell phones can cause interruptions during class affecting the learning of all the students in class. Nicholas Carr explains that “[i]f we're distracted, we understand less...and learn less”(95). This tells us that once we are distracted we affect our way of learning and we sometimes rush the process. Matt Richtel argues, “while many people say multitasking makes them more productive, research shows otherwise”(97). This statement lets us know that once we are dealing with more than one objective, we are more likely to lose our focus and achieve less. Distractions in class are most likely to happen if students have their phones on in class, so if we participate in “Shut Down Your Screen Week” students will be more focused and learn more. Next, cell phones and other electronics are negatively affecting our brain. For example, I have gone on my computer to google and surf the web for answers on questions I didn’t know. If you are looking towards the internet for all the answers you don’t know about you will never learn the material for yourself. Nicholas Carr argues, “[t]he net bombards us with messages and other bits of data, and...those interruptions break our train of thought. We end up scatterbrained”(95). We let the internet show us all the answers, that we lose our ability to remember the question and answer. Nora Volkow claims, “The technology is rewiring our brains”(qtd. In Richtel 97). This statement shows that since we are in our electronic all day we lose our ability to learn and it affects our memory. New technologies have affected our brain in many ways, from our way of learning to our memory, if we participate in this event we can help students learn again. This thesis is true because electronics have become a distraction and students are
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I have been tempted to be on my computer most of the time in the day instead of doing homework, going outside or spending time with my family. If you are in your house all day on electronics you exclude yourself from your life and lose touch with your close family and friends. Then, Matt Richtel explains that “Mr. Campbell continues to struggle with the effects...after he unplugs, he craves the stimulation he gets from his electronic gadgets”(97). This statement tells us that once you try to stop using electronics, you still need to use your devices or you feel empty. Researchers have said that “digital stimulation...creates attention problems for children with brains that are still developing, who already struggle to set priorities and resist impulses”(qtd. In Richtel 97). This tells us that at a young age children are already affected by electronics can have effects on them in the future. We have become addicted to our electronic devices and if teachers and students participate in “Shut Down Your Screen Week” it could help decrease isolation. Yet people argue some might believe that the Internet helps people stay in contact with each other and helps them have a better social relationship. But, what this argument fails to account for is researchers have found “Americans have fewer intimate relationships today than 20 years ago”(Hampton 93). On the other hand even though people are socially active on their phones and they have friends on the Internet, does not mean they are friends in real

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