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Whitney Driscoll
22 April 2015
Cellphone Use in Class:
Bad idea
Cellphones: that wonderful device that allows the individual to make a call anywhere on
the globe. In fact, as technology keeps progressing, many believe that teachers should encourage
students to integrate their smartphones in the curriculum. Yet though this technique has some
positives, the many negatives including a higher chance of distraction away from lectures and
coursework and a greater lack of the ability to learn outweigh the positives. Like everything else,
the cellphone has a time and place; the classroom is not one of them.
Anyone who has some form of a screen whether it is an iPod, television, or cellphone,
understands how much of a distraction these devices can become. With so many apps which
allow one to search the internet; visit Facebook, Twitter, or even email; and a numerous amount
of games to play it becomes fairly easy to get oneself trapped in the virtual world of the screen. If
the smartphone were introduced into the curriculum, teachers would find students less attentive
in class. They may even do worse on the tests.
In his article, “In Classroom of Future, Stagnant Scores,” Matt Richtel claims test scores
have greatly stagnated in Kyrene School District due to the enormous push to master Powerpoint
presentations and the digital mediea instead of solving mathematic problems, reading, and basic
as well as eloquent writing skills. These skills decline even more when cellphone use is
permitted by institutions of education.
The anonymous writer of “Don’t Give Students More Tools of Mass Destruction” states
about the educational use of the cellular device, “Texting, tweeting, surfing and updating your

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online profile have nothing to do with learning and no place in the classroom. Yet it's even
become commonplace for parents to text their children during school hours. What are they
thinking?” (Maclean's, par. 4) Good question, Mr. Anonymous Author. Obviously many parents
have become oblivious to their children’s educational needs or like their offspring have a
cupidity for the screen. If parents desperately need to constantly contact their young on their
cellphones, what does this mean about the addictiveness of the students themselves?
Josh Dulaney of the LA Daily News created a report on a Baylor University study called
"The Invisible Addiction: Cell Phone Activities and Addiction among Male and Female College
Students." This study tested 164 students on how many hours average they spend on their
cellular devices. According to researchers, sixty percent of students admitted they could quite
possibly have an addiction to their phones. Researchers also discovered women spend at least 10
hours using their cellphone (only two hours more than their male counterparts). Researchers
further found college students on average spend 94.6 minutes a day on their phones texting
“followed by 48.5 minutes a day sending emails and 38.6 minutes daily checking Facebook” (LA
Daily News, par. 6).
After doing the preliminary research, it is apparent using cellphones in class represents a
serious problem. Technology may bring entertainment to learning, but it seems the entertainment
is separate and distinct from learning. So much so education and tests have suffered poorly for it.
As the author of one article states, “Technology may lower school costs … and even raise student
satisfaction. But it can't produce students with better grades;” and indeed they do not (Maclean's,
par. 9).
Works Cited

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Dulaney, Josh, News, LA Daily. "Study: College students addicted to cellphones." Daily News;
Los Angeles, Calif.. 29 Sep. 2014: n/a. eLibrary. Web. 07 Apr. 2015.
"Don’t Give Students More Tools of Mass Distraction." Maclean's. 04 Oct. 2010: 6. eLibrary.
Web. 07 Apr. 2015.
Richtel, Matt. “In Classroom of Future, Stagnant Scores.” The New York Times. 3 September
2011. 2015 The New York Times Company. 11 April 2015.