Should Phones be Allowed at School?
By Than zin Moe,
3nd Place Essay Winner
New Haven High School
Up to ninety-five percent of society and current students have access to innovative technology like smartphones, laptops, or iPads. Smartphones have become a controversial topic on whether they should be allowed at school or not. The use of these cellular devices has raised concern in most schools due to the effect it has on teens. As a current teen in high school, I can say that no matter how entertaining phones may be, these devices can act as a distraction and negatively affect grades of a student. That being the case, I believe that phones should not be allowed during school hours.
Seemingly, phones are considered a major distraction. Throughout the day notifications appear daily that can distract a student or the people around. On many occasions the student would most likely pay attention to the smartphone due to class being an uninteresting topic. While a student's attention focuses on the cellular device, the realization to focus in class disappears. This can cause consequences like lowering test scores and worsening grades.
According to Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, studies found that smartphones are the reason behind lacking grades. Despite phones having many useful apps for educational purposes, they also contain apps that make work easier. A professor of psychology at Rutgers, Arnold Glass, also explains that “when students look up an answer, they rapidly forget the question”. This tends to negatively affect scores of a test as well when a student does not have access to the answers online.
Therefore, phones should not be considered in the school classrooms. It acts as a distraction and interferes with the learning process. Studies have shown that the use of phones in class resulted in worse test scores. Regardless of how appealing and useful these cellular devices are, there is evidence shown that there are more negative effects of these smartphones than they are of the positive effects.
cites/sources:
https://blog.gitnux.com/cell-phone-usage-statistics/ https://www.rutgers.edu/news/smartphones-are-lowering-students-grades-study-finds