Smart phones

Good morning class, please turn your cell phones off and put them away? This statement can be heard throughout classrooms every day by many frustrated teachers. Some think that smartphones actually take away the actual human interaction while youth believe that smartphones make the world smarter and faster. There is no doubt that they make your life easier; however they should not be allowed in the classroom.

Oh no I forgot to study for my test, no worries I’ll just use my smartphone. That statement has been thought of by many students who have been in that position. For some, It’s much easier to google the answer then to actually put in the time and effort to study for the test. There are actually videos on the internet that show you exactly how to cheat using your smartphone. What most students don’t realize is that it's actually hurting you more than helping you.

Smartphones actually make cyberbullying happen more often than not. It’s super easy to snap a picture of someone unknowingly and then send it without really thinking about the consequences. If students didn’t have immediate contact with their phones chances are they would have forgotten about the incident and it would have never happened and no one's feelings would have been hurt.

Social interaction has been replaced by smartphones. People would rather talk via phone than have a face to face conversation. There are many features like Facetime and group chats that let several people talk at once and that can also make a person feel left out and could lead to depression and other feelings of being unwanted.

Smartphones not only cause you to lose concentration in class but it also distracts others around you. Each time your phone goes off, it takes your brain five minutes to realign itself. This equals valuable time missed in class, not only by you but everyone sitting around you. When it's time to take the test, you will not be as successful because you didn’t learn much from class because you were so engaged in your phone and what was going on in the outside world.

Snap a picture...send it to your followers! Oh look, I’ve got 257 likes! This is what we have come to with smartphones providing apps like Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat everyone feels the need to post by the minute. Students care and almost compete with each other on who has the most likes or followers. So with each one you post, it takes valuable time away from what you're actually supposed to be paying attention to.

To conclude, there are many different studies and opinions on why smartphones should not be allowed in the classroom. They cause many distractions like cheating, cyberbullying, poor grades and most importantly loss of focus. Students need to stop worrying about what's going on around them and start paying attention to what's in front of them. Can you imagine what the classroom would be like if smartphones weren’t allowed?