In today’s day and age, cell phones are more than a distraction. Cell phones are tools, resources, and a way of communication. As a teenager in today’s world, I am not afraid to say I have some addiction to my cell phone. Sometimes, it may be a distraction. However, it is more often a tool that I use in my everyday life.
I can do everything on my Chromebook, phone, and much more, such as typing this essay, my math homework, and my canvas assignments.
I believe that people have control over themselves and their own decisions. Whether or not they choose to do the right thing is on them. Students should be able to make up their minds about whether or not they would like to have their cell phones on hand. I would choose to have my cell phone because I care about my education and can make the mature decision to put my cell phone away when I need to pay attention to my learning environment. If other students do not care enough to put their phones away and pay attention to their education, they should suffer the consequences of their actions. If teenagers are responsible enough to have a cell phone, they should be responsible enough to make the right choices.
More often than not, a cell phone can be used as a resource. They are used as modern-day libraries, encyclopedias, and more. It provides quick and easy access to everything a student needs.
As people talk more and more about the ban on cell phones, more distress is being spread through parents. Parents let their teenagers have cell phones for one primary purpose: to communicate. Let’s use an extreme example to show you. Let’s say Sally is a sophomore in high school. And Sally’s school has just introduced a new phone ban. Sally comes to school on a regular Tuesday morning expecting nothing different than the day prior. Sally sits in the fourth period, waiting for the lunch bell to ring when suddenly she hears a distinct sound. Gun shots. Right down the hall in one of the other classrooms. Sally reaches down her pocket for her phone to call 911 and text her mom. She reaches down, and nothing. Now, I’m not a parent, but I’m pretty sure that if my parents heard that I had been shot in a school shooting and was either dead or severely injured, they would be pretty upset that I did not have my “distraction” to contact them and let them know about the situation.
Teenagers are often seen as children, and most of the time, they do not enjoy it. A cell phone is seen as a form of freedom or a step in growing up, and it can help teenagers take a step towards adulthood and maturity. A cell phone can make a teenager feel like their own person. Because often, as teenagers, we are seen as our parents, or we feel like we are living in our parent’s shadows. It is, in a way, a sense of freedom and expression. It does not usually end well when people are stripped of their freedom. They are much more likely to rebel and try to sneak cell phones into school.
In conclusion, they should not follow through with the phone ban because of teenagers’ freedoms and because cell phones are tools that reasonable people can use for good.
– by B. Black (11th) Panguitch
Read another perspective on cell phones in schools in Phones Affect Kids’ Learning Environments by B. Albrecht.