Should Cell Phones Be Banned In Schools?

In the past decade, the use of smartphones by the general population has skyrocketed; including a huge increase in usage by teenagers. Students can use phones for many purposes of both social and learning, as connecting to the Internet has opened up resources for learning from all over this planet. This can be good and bad for the student in the educational environment.

Schools have kept up as best as possible by implementing technology rules for use or even by banning phones in school altogether. There are arguments for allowing students to have cell phones and use them for certain educational reasons such as looking up resources and participating in certain technology with the teachers and fellow students. Cell phones can be a huge distraction as many have found though, as texting, gaming and social media can take students attention off of learning. Phones can also be used for bullying purposes, which also takes away from the positive nature of school and learning. A final negative on cell phones in school is that resources accessed can lead to cheating.

I believe that schools can function best when students are not distracted by cell phones. Many schools already utilize laptops for learning, so adding cell phone usage just tempts students to step away from the learning process. Cell phones are important for students to have access to in case of emergency, but other than that, banning cell phones in the schools may be the best way for students to have the least distraction in their learning environment.