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Anela Hoops

Professor Kari Carter

ENG1201

March 5, 2022

Technology in the Modern School System

Thirty minutes left in class. Students are getting done with their series of quizzes quite

early. Phil and many other classmates decide to get onto their phones, not knowing the

consequences they may face in the future. The teacher comes around with a big blue basket

telling her pupils to drop them in. She then announces that they can receive their phone at the

end of the day. The classroom then gets into a violent rage, it is almost as if you took away the

student's most prized possession. For over a decade, phones have been accepted in the

classroom, they keep the kids quiet during the excess time in class. But whatever happened to

reading books or even working on other assignments. Children today just get straight onto their

phone to either text, rather than have a conversation face to face, or check the terrible social

media apps. With their cell phones, many classrooms look like the students are taking the

lesson “in one ear and out the other”. When the administration walks into the classroom, they

are walking into a room full of zombies. According to a recent study 21 percent of students,

almost 10.4 million kids, bring in mobile devices that are able to film and photograph (Obringer

1). Why do parents allow their children to have access to a mobile device? How many children

do not have a cell phone at all? What power allows schools to make cell phone policies?

Around the globe, there are 7.753 billion people, and the number keeps increasing. Every year
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children receive their first phone; this is a gateway that parents can never return from. The use of

cellular devices in the United States of America has risen from 1.2 million to 145 million in

almost two decades (Obringer 1). We need to put restrictions on technology in the school system

urgently. Schools shouldn’t allow students to have their phones in class, as it will help improve

students' academic performance and decrease inappropriate behavior. Why should students in all

schools not be allowed to have access to their cell phones during school hours?

Fig. 1. A scientific study representing the amount of cyberbullying in schools, reported by

principles: Years shown 2009-2010 and 2015-2016 (five-year gap).

The education system has been debating cell phone policies for more than a few decades.

The first cell phone, Motorola DynaTAC 8000x, was invented in 1973. In its early years, it was
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most popular with the middle age group of the human population. A few years later most of the

teenage population had some type of mobile device in their grasp. In the early 1990s, many

schools banned the use of cell phones because it was associated with the use of illegal substances

and violent groupings. However, many officials and state lawmakers changed their position after

a terrorist attack on Columbine High School in 1999. This was because parents were worried

about the safety of their children, they wanted contact with their kids during school hours to

ensure safety. In the early 2000s (2000-2007) technology has evolved and a mobile device is

seen as key learning material. As time goes on and with the evolution and creation of

laptops/chrome books, phones are seen as more of a distraction rather than a resource. The cell

phone industry continues to change, making students have more access to technology whether

this is in a positive or negative way.

While Alyson Klein, in her article “Schools Say No to Cellphones in Class. But Is It a

Smart Move?” mentions how mobile devices can be an active learning tool in the classroom and

can help students with understanding the learning material, Louis-Philippe Beland argues in his

article “Banning Mobile Phones in Schools Can Improve Students' Academic Performance” that

if educational administration removes the cell phone distraction among the students, it will help

them improve their test scores and overall grade point average. He claims that schools are trying

their hardest to improve their facility, whether this is by increasing test scores or student morale.

His claim is based on research and experiments done in multiple European countries by experts.

The countries Spain, Norway, Belgium, and Sweden all showed similar results. These results

included that when students did not have access to technology during school hours their test

scores improved tremendously. The article mentions that without the use of phones, the standard
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deviation of 16-year-old students increased by 6.4% (Beland 5). This evidence shows that the

scores of students will increase with the decrease of mobile devices in school facilities. The

article also mentioned that the lower-achieving students had grown twice as much without the

use of their cell phones. There was also evidence provided for the United States, the evidence

stated that the removal of technology in the classroom environment has no effect on students.

The author claims that the reason for this is that we rely on online learning and technology as a

daily practice. Their claim seems to be reflected by the numerous amounts of research put into

the topic.

In the article “Cell Phones in American High Schools: A National Survey” written by

John S. Obringer, a man who specializes in Educational Psychology and Counseling, claims that

schools in America that allow the use of technology see phones as a threat and an unnecessary

instrument in the classroom setting. He backs up his claim and reasoning with pulled statistics

taken from a survey with 112+ participants from different schools around the United States. The

results from the survey give a student’s point of view and thoughts on their academic facilities’

laws on cell phone use during school hours. Many schools have cell phone restrictions enforced

regarding a student's use of mobile devices while in school. However, the author's concern is

that the use of cell phones causes distractions, allows cheating among peers, cyberbullying,

threats, and hacking phone lines during an emergency. And according to the outcome of the

survey, many students agree that without the use of cellphones in schools they feel safer in their

educational environment. Obringer views the other side too, regarding parents' concern about

the safety of their developing children. He states that there is always an emergency line at school

and the reason that parents may be scared is more because of an “…issue of culture and
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convenience” (Obringer 5). John S. Obringer brings an outstanding point of view, showing why

students should not be allowed to have access to technology while school is in session.

While safety is the main concern when it comes to technology, many people cannot see

the long-term physiological effects on students. Texting and online messaging is the main way

of communication today between younger individuals. The author Chantal N. Van Dijk states in

her article “The Influence of Texting Language on Grammar and Executive Functions in Primary

School Children” that texting shows a positive correlation between students' grammar

performance. Van Dijk and her team conducted research with an already established hypothesis

in mind, texting/online messaging will decrease a child's performance in reading and grammar-

related academics. However, as they conducted their research, they found that students can

understand grammatically incorrect sentences and fix them to make more sense to the average

adult. This piece of evidence went against their hypothesis and made their claim change. They

also found that students were more likely to read at a high speed, the researchers believe this is

because of their eye coordination with letters and words. The authors claim students' grammar

and reading skills can be improved because of texting, supported by experimental evidence that

shows schools that the use of cell phones can be beneficial in some respects.

Sara Rimer, a journalist who holds a bachelor’s degree in American Study, mentions in

her article “Ban or Embrace: Professors Share Strategies for Cell Phones in Class”, that a

teacher’s way of handling technology in the classroom can vary from class to class. In her report,

she quotes Elizabeth Co, who says that in classrooms you will either express the use of

technology or ban it completely (Co 5). This saying is very powerful when teachers are trying to
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make up their minds about their personal rules in their classroom. Some teachers have banned

technology completely in their classrooms, this includes the use of mobile devices and chrome

books. The teachers who use this technique claim that they prefer to make students handwrite

everything because it is a more effective way of studying and using muscle memory. Other

instructors see technology as a helping hand to keep young minds active and engaged in their

lessons. Many teachers are using apps to have students answer questions and even including

social media to relate to their younger generation of a class. Rimer uses real teacher experience

to back up her claim, that technology can be “banned or embraced” in a classroom, however, the

teacher needs to set rules and communicate to the students about the policies. She mentions this

last part of her claim because if a teacher does not want students distracted it is crucial that an

instructor communicates instead of getting frustrated. If this happens it can cause a broken

connection between a teacher and student which is seen as one of the most important

relationships.

Phones have an impact on teenagers' developing minds. During their teenage years,

many children are mature enough to be aware of their surroundings. This is where many young

minds see what is right and wrong. The use of phones they change the mental and social aspects

of the upcoming generations. It has been clinically proven that younger generations, such as Gen

Z, have developed more mental illnesses, like depression and anxiety. Many scientists believe

that this is because Gen Z has grown up with technology and the use of social media. This can

affect many things such as school behavior and performance, which will put setbacks on future

employment. Students have gotten used to cyberbullying and inappropriate messaging among

peers. This happens very often in school settings, an example of this is taking pictures of people
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without their permission and posting them on social media. Many children were never taught

how to properly use mobile devices because many adults do not know the evolving world of

technology.

When schools are exploring the possibility of banning the use of technology in school

many students seem to be upset if they continue with a ban route. The reason for this is that they

cannot use social media such as Snapchat, Instagram, and even TikTok in the middle of class.

When schools do place a restriction on technology many students and parents argue that this is a

safety issue. However, in the case of an emergency schools can contact paramedics and law

enforcement officers from an office phone. It is also said that 68% of school police officers or

resource officers see phones as more of an obstacle during a school crisis (Obringer 1). Many

students also would keep their parents updated but continue to spread drama and post what is

happening on social media for everyone to be concerned during a school crisis. This argument is

one of the only pieces of evidence that students and parents have to keep cell phones in schools.

There seem to be unlimited factors on why classes should not let their students have

access to phones during school hours. One of these reasons may be because it causes

interference with learning in the class setting. But why do students seem to get so distracted and

lose focus so easily when it comes to cell phone devices? Many studies show that over ¼ of

Americans seem to get distracted by their mobile devices however don’t get distracted by other

things. Another reason that phones may not be allowed in many schools is that many students do

not know how to use their phones properly. The use of improper online etiquette can prompt

cyber bullying, gangs, substance abuse, and even shooting or bomb threats. Many schools are
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afraid of this for other students' safety and even their own safety. They want their school to be a

safe and caring environment for students to enjoy, many educators believe that the only way to

achieve this status is to eliminate technology. This may lead to the question, what precautions

can parents and teachers take to educate children about proper online protocol? One of the last

main reasons for schools to enforce phone policies is because teachers and instructors do not

want their students to have early answers on papers, tests, quizzes, and assignments. Cheating is

one of the most common techniques to get out of taking a test. Over 75% of students have

cheated on a test before, whether this is a 10-point vocab test or the ACT. Technology is one of

the main ways to cheat today because it is so easy for students to just pull up google and search

the questions up. But what causes students to cheat on school assignments? For all these

reasons faculty and administration of schools need to reevaluate their standpoint on phone

policies. To improve students’ academic performance and decrease inappropriate behavior,

schools shouldn’t allow students to have their phones in class.

Works Cited

Beland, Louis-Philippe. “Banning Mobile Phones in Schools Can Improve Students' Academic

Performance.” 22 Mar. 2021. The Conversation. https://phys.org/news/2021-03-mobile-

schools-students-academic.html. Accessed 5 Mar. 2022.

“Cyberbullying and Cell Phone Policy in U.S. Primary and Secondary Schools”. U.S.

Department of Education NCES, January 2019,

https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2019/2019053/index.asp. Accessed 30 March 2022.

Klein, Alyson. “Schools Say No to Cellphones in Class. But Is It a Smart Move?” 20 Dec. 2020.

Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/technology/schools-say-no-to-cellphones-in-

class-but-is-it-a-smart-move/2019/09. Accessed 5 Mar. 2022.

Obringer, John S., et al. “Cell Phones in American High Schools: A National Survey.” pp. 41-47,

6 Nov, 2015. The Journal of Technology Studies.

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ847358.pdf. Accessed 5 Mar. 2022.

Rimer, Sara. “Ban or Embrace: Professors Share Strategies for Cell Phones in Class.” 29 Jan.

2019. Boston University. https://www.bu.edu/articles/2019/cell-phones-in-the-classroom/.

Accessed 5 Mar. 2022.

Van Dijk, Chantal N., et al. "The Influence of Texting Language on Grammar and Executive

Functions in Primary School Children." PLoS ONE, vol. 11, no. 3, 31 Mar. 2016. Gale In

Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A453451748/OVIC?

u=dayt30401&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=c90c9d26. Accessed 5 Mar. 2022.