Pro- Cell Phones and Ipods in School Essay

Alex Hightower Cell phones are taking over high schools, let’s face it. In this day and age cell phones and mp3 players are almost a necessity. Have you ever been sitting in the middle of class and you hear a cell phone go off? The common reaction is to look and see whose phone it was, then you lose focus and the teacher has to repeat what they were saying. This gets most teachers mad and many students upset. Students believe that teachers taking their phones away are not fair, when really you should have been paying attention to the lesson instead of distracting another student from learning. The teachers do not want to take the  cell phone  or mp3 players away from you but it is part of their job duties. They just want what is best for you and they want you to succeed in life. Many school administrators have taken the position that school rules should prohibit the use of  cell phones  and mp3 players during class, tests, and exams and in the bathroom. I disagree. I think that they should allow cell phones and mp3 players in school. For one, it is safer to let children have their phones so they can contact their parents during the day, that way the parents know that their child is safe at school. If there is an emergency or accident the parents would want to know about it and if everyone is okay. The school board can only send out a voicemail so quickly and it would have all the information that their child would. It also wouldn’t give specific information pertaining to the child. It would send them into a panic, worrying that their kid is injured. If they were allowed to use their phones, they would call their parents and tell them that everything is okay. That would also relieve the stress of the school board about having to tell the parents because the kids would have already done it. Most kids these days have low attention spans. Those same kids also listen to music in their spare time. For example, while they read or do homework and likely concentrate better while doing this. So if we let them listen to music on their iPods or mp3 players during silent work, they would talk to other class mates less and they would finish their work more accurately and faster. Using iPods in class during silent work would help the kids do their work more accurately. Another concern is that a class mate might steal another class mate’s cell phone or mp3 player. This can happen but might be less likely if the student is allowed to use it. If the student is allowed to text in class he or she is going to check their phone or mp3 player more often than they would if they weren’t allowed to text or listen to music in class. Cell phone and mp3 players can be distracting in class, while teaching, but that’s why, rather than banning them, there should be a guide line set. The cell phone or mp3 player doesn’t need to be out the entire day or the entire class period but they also don’t need to be banned altogether. They should be used appropriately throughout the school day and emergencies. They also shouldn’t be taken if the student is caught with a cell phone or mp3 player. The ones that get caught are usually the ones contacting a parent because they are sick and not paying attention to the teacher. Having the phone sit in the office makes the school directly responsible for whether or not the cell phone is stolen or broken, which could result in a law suit, depending on the parents and the type of cell phone. Whoever pays the bill for the cell phone wouldn’t be happy if they can’t get to it because they have to work and it just sits in the office, causing them to pay for something that’s not being used. There is no real downside to letting students have their cell phones mp3 players in class. It’s better for parents who may need to contact their kids during school hours. It’ll help kids concentrate in class. It could make them use their phones less; we are more likely to do something were not allowed to do. That’s why we should allow cell phones and mp3 players in school.