cell phones in school

Distraction: Since today"s cell phones have more than one application, students will always get distracted in the quest of trying to discover and try out new cell phone applications. Female students are more likely to get distracted by mobile applications like Pinterest.com, Facebook or twitter, then for the male students, they can get distracted by cell phone game applications or video streaming applications. This continuous distraction will affect a student"s concentration in the classroom, and it can also distract other students around them. At the end of the term these students will fail their exams because during classroom hours they where playing games or watching youtube.com videos. Cheating of exams: Since student X was watching videos during classroom hours, when it comes to exam time, they will resort to cheating. So they can decide to scan their notes on their cell phones or use text messaging service to cheat exams. Then some students can Google exam questions and copy whatever they find online, and in most cases this data published online is not correct which results into exam failure. According to my view, cell phones are more helpful to students. The two major cons ""Distraction & Cheating of exams "" can be controlled with strict guidelines on how and when to use cell phones in schools. Educators should not ban cell phones in schools, but they have to teach students on how to use cell phones to improve their grades, teachers can create some phone text based quizzes to ensure that students are always alert at all time in the classroom. A cell phone as a gadget is not bad, so we just have to find better ways of using it. Harmful effects of digital devices: There are concerns from the EPA about long-term exposure to wireless devices and computer screens. While there is no direct evidence of harmful effects, the EPA would discourage too much exposure for students who have video screens in front of their faces or computers in their laps. If students frequently use these devices at home, additional exposure at school could be viewed as harmful. Inappropriate materials: While schools can limit the availability of websites that can be viewed on their network, students may find links that slipped through the system. There will also be times that students will not be accessing the Internet through a monitored network. Distraction from schoolwork: With the temptation of social media and texting in their hands, students may focus solely on their social life instead of the lesson plan. Child predators and cyberbullying: Child predators are a problem everywhere. Using digital devices at school creates just that much more exposure and potential danger for students. In addition, cyber bullying is also an increasing issue. Permitting use of digital devices in the classroom could potentially lead to more of it. Provide a "dis-connect": While some believe digital devices make for greater connections for students, there are those who believe too much time with digital devices provide a disconnect of students from face-to-face social activities, family communications and nature. Digital devices in the classroom would probably lead to an even greater such disconnection. Even though there are many gains to giving a child a cell phone, there are just as many drawbacks. One big one is the prevalence of bullying. Technology can facilitate this behavior even more since the Internet enables users to comment anonymously and post messages that stay up "forever." Giving a kid a cell phone could be like giving them a loaded gun when it comes to being tormented"or even tormenting others"online. Thirty-four percent of Niche high school and college students report having been through 5 or more cell phones in their lifetime, which means cell phones are being used at a very young age. When a child is in school, his or her purpose there is to learn. Young people can be easily distracted from their studies - and having easy access to a mobile phone during class can make it easier for them to lose focus. If they become bored with the class material, it doesn't take much for them to take their cell phone to play some games or to check their newsfeed on Facebook or Twitter. How can you expect a child or teen to absorb the knowledge they need to learn if they're not even paying attention? Obviously, kids won't be able to take out their cell phones and talk to one another in the classroom during an exam, but the concept of "passing notes" has stepped into the age of technology, thanks to text messaging. Texts can be sent quite discreetly while in the classroom. Taking it one step further, a student can excuse himself to go to the washroom, only to use that time to send text messages and leave voice mails. It's also important to bear in mind that cell phones are advancing and improving faster than ever. Smartphones can surf the Web, providing high-tech ways for students to look for test answers online. Some models have advanced calculators, and depending on the software, may even be able to run custom applications that can contribute to academic dishonesty. The possibilities for cheating and copying are literally limitless when students have access to cell phones in class. oung people can be very competitive, fighting for popularity among their peer group. This can manifest itself into stealing if a particular individual brings an especially expensive cell phone to school. The last thing you want to do is to tempt the would-be thieves by sending your child to school with a piece of equipment that make him or her a target. Lockers are more likely to be broken into, for example, if they know there is something of value in there. Kids will be kids, so with hormones raging during their school days, there is a distinct possibility that some students may take pictures that they shouldn't be taking. Given that nearly every cell phone these days has a built-in digital camera, it becomes too easy to take a picture of someone without the person even noticing. These photos are also easily uploaded and shared over the Internet. Can you imagine the uproar if pictures were to arise of girls in the dressing room or boys in the locker room? Many students use the internet or access social media sites without teacher or parent supervision. These students can be targeted by predators. Predators lurk in chat rooms, on social media sites and other websites that are of interest to students. With the use of smartphones and other devices, it can be hard to monitor a student's online activity.