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[C348]Cell Phones In Schools

by Douglas Stewart, Dou

When cell phones first became popular, school administrators banned them from school premises due to the connection between these devices and illegal drug activity. Due to school shootings and the events of 9/11, the question has arisen again as to whether cell phones should be allowed in the academic environment.

Many parents argue that the devices should be allowed if such an emergency occurs. They feel safer knowing that their children are just a phone call away. These adults also point out the fact that one of the reasons that their children have these phones is to enable them to have the ability to call home for a ride after school activities.

School administrators on the other hand argue that cell phones are more of a convenience than a necessity and that these devices have no place in the school environment. These officials point out that the use of these phones are disruptive in the classroom due to students receiving and answering calls and text messages when they should be paying attention to the teacher.

Text messaging also creates problems by being a means in which students can gossip about other children without the worry of being overheard. “Text messaging bullying” has also become an issue between school officials and cell phone users.

Thanks to another feature that is now available on cell phones, these devices are now barred from locker rooms due to the fact that some inappropriate pictures were secretly taken and posted on the Internet within the hour.

Another worry that many experts have about the widespread use of cell phones among children is the fact that these youngsters may be losing basic communication skills. By talking on the phone or text messaging their friends, these children are not taking the opportunity to speak to other youngsters when standing in the lunch line or hanging out in the hall. The ability to conduct face-to-face communication is found to be seriously lacking in the students that are cell phone users.

A compromise has been reached in many school districts. In these areas, the students are allowed to have cell phones as long as they are shut off during school hours. This agreement allows for the teachers to have a disruptive-free class room while the students still have the ability to call home during after-school activities. Administrators also suggest that students have prepaid cell phone plans that limit the number of text messages that the child is allowed to send. These officials point out that if a student is only allowed three text messages daily, they are more likely to use them wisely instead of as a means to gossip or bully.

In the case of a school shooting or other type of emergency, students using cell phones can overload service lines and can also cause radio interference with the equipment that is used by the police and other emergency response workers. Cell phone usage may interfere with evacuation procedures as well. A child who is talking on a phone may miss important instructions that are being given to them by the school officials. In case of an emergency, it is considered best if the school employees make any necessary calls while the students carefully follow any directions that are given to them.

Overall, the use of cell phones by students is fine if this use is limited to the proper times and places. Otherwise, these devices are not a necessity in most academic environments.

Cell Phones have come a long way since they were first developed. First generation cell phones were large, bulky and had almost no battery life. They were usually one line or two line display phones that would use LED's to display numbers on the screen. Such phones could only be used for phone calls, there was no short messaging service and no internet in these phones. Therefore it was only used by businessmen that always needed to be in contact with the world. But the second and third generation phones changed all that. Cell Phones now have short messaging service, internet and other multimedia features. This lead to the inevitable, the students and younger generation started buying the latest cell phones. Due to its unlimited features cell phones started to be more of a problem for students. Let's look at those problems in more detail now.

Cell Phones as a Disturbance:

Cell Phones create a lot of distractions and are a source of disturbance during classes. Students that bring cell phones to class and don't bother to turn off their ring tones can disrupt the teachers' lectures and disturb others when his or her phone rings. But those students that actually do turn off their ring tones can talk with their friends unnoticed thanks to hands-free devices. Hands-free devices; because they are so small have enabled students to talk to their friends during class without anyone noticing.

Short Messaging Services:

A major drawback of modern cell phones in class is that student's can text each other during class and miss out on hearing the teacher's thoughts and opinions. This service can also be used to cheat during tests and exams. Students can message each other formulas and the correct answers in multiple choice questions. They don't even have to look at the cell phone while writing the message so they can easily get away with such actions.

Cell Phones as a Distraction:

With the advancements in technology mobile games are becoming more and more advanced everyday. Cell Phones games no longer look like those 8 Bit games we used to play back in the nineties. They have really improved and can provide hours of entertainment. But students tend to entertain themselves with these games during class. Students would rather turn the volume low on there handsets and play games rather than listen to the teacher's lecture. Due to Bluetooth technology, multiple students can connect their handsets wirelessly and play a multiplayer game during classes.

Cell Phone and Privacy Issues:

Modern cell phones come equipped with high quality cameras and people can take pictures as well as videos with their cell phones without anyone knowing. This can give rise to serious privacy issues in some schools.

Most institutions have realized these problems and have banned cell phones altogether on school premises. Students are not allowed to bring cell phones to school and if found their cell phones are confiscated. This is a bold and necessary step as there was no need for cell phones in the past there should be no need for them now. However if some schools cannot implement such strict laws then they should use signal jammers on the school premises. These jam all cell phone signals within their range thus within their range cell phones cannot be used for messaging or for phone calls.

Article Source : Pg. 13

About Author

Both Douglas Stewart & Faraz Ahmed are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Douglas Stewart has sinced written about articles on various topics from Mobile Phone Reviews, Smartphone Cell Phones and Mobile Phone Reviews. You just got a new cell phone or you want to personalize your current cell phone visit this article on .. Douglas Stewart's top article generates over 673000 views. to your Favourites.

Faraz Ahmed has sinced written about articles on various topics from Prospects, Mobile Phone Reviews and computers and the internet. For more details and discussions on and . Pleas. Faraz Ahmed's top article generates over 110000 views. to your Favourites.