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Anurag Basu Thakur

Jacksonville state University

EH 102.006 English Composition II

Dr. Larry Gray

September 24, 2024

Cell phones Casualties in Classroom

Several studies have compared students who texted during a lecture versus those who

did not. Those who texted typically took lower quality notes, retained less information, and

did worse on tests about the material (e.g. Kuznekoff and Titsworth, 2013, and Rosen et al,

2011; Lee et al, 2017). Today’s world is packed with cell phones, and it is impossible to deny

them the fundamental position in our everyday existence. But in a learning environment

many schools have banned the use of cell phones in class. This decision is due to several

reasons such as distractions in classrooms and the myth of multitasking and the need to

enhance effective learning environment. Nevertheless, students may always justify their need

for taking the devices to class, and unfortunately, the use of cell phones eventually proves to

be disruptive to the learning process.

Among the most common misconceptions that can be identified among the students is

that they are able to learn effectively while multitasking, that is using their cell phones while

attending classes. This myth is therefore perfectly suited for any system that exists in a

culture that worships hard work. But studies have shown that humans are not wired to

multitask, whether in the context of listening to a professional or to family members.

Whenever students try to multitask by writing, typing messages or checking notifications

while trying to listen to a lecture, for instance, they are not actually comprehending
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information from any of the tasks. Instead, they flicker, and their eyes move to and from,

which results in the learners having overwhelmed and low effectiveness of training.

For instance, there is a student, named Sarah who is confident that she will be able to

follow the teacher’s lecture and text a friend with plans for the weekend. While Sarah thinks

she is handling both tasks, research shows that she is distracted hence losing important

information from the lecture. When the teacher later asks a question in relation to a topic that

was covered the previous lessons, Sarah is unable to retrieve the information and

consequently shoot down her knowledge in the subject. Such a situation is not exceptional; it

just illustrates the fact that people who multitask are prone to skimming content and thus

perform worse in class. Students themselves are aware that in-class multitasking does not

promote learning; in one survey, 80% of students agreed that multitasking in class decreases

their ability to pay attention (Sana et al, 2013).

The presence of cell phones in classrooms also makes a huge contribution to

distraction. Alert tones, sounds, and having opportunities to check social media during the

lesson, can cause students to lose their focus. Some of these distractions may be primarily

directed at individual students, but overall, they can be a problem for the entire class. Take,

for example, a scenario when one pupil gets a message notification and reaches out for his or

her cell phone; many would turn heads to view what he or she is doing, during important

lessons. This tendency on the part of students makes it difficult to learn and at times, make

the classroom too noisy and disorderly. Telecommunication devices may disrupt, and this is

perfectly explained in the following examples.

Visualize a situation when a teacher is deep into the complexities of a particular topic

in Mathematics and trying to reach out to the students with problem-solving activities. All of

sudden, a loud ring of a cell phone goes off, hence creating an interruption. True, the
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instructor does not rest during the lesson as some of the learners in the classroom have their

eyes off the teacher and on the ringing phone or their phones. What should have shaped up as

a very resourceful brace up becomes a series of conflicts where the students are most of the

time outside or inside the classes but not fully in the classes. This example shows exactly the

problem that students and teachers face during the learning process due to cell phone usage. .

In a survey conducted by Tindell and Bohlander (2011), 92% of college students reported

using their phones to send text messages during class.

Cell phone distractions do not just disrupt; they cause great harm to the education

system. Recent surveys show how students who text a lot in class perform poorly compared

to those who do not text at all. Absenteeism due to cell phone distractions has practical

implications which translates to poor performance academically by learners. For example, a

student by the name Alex may sit in class for a history lecture with his eyes fixed on the cell

phone checking hot mails or Facebook notifications. In this way, he does not pay attention

and forgets to start his group projects for the course and comes last on the midterm exam.

Reliance on cell phones to get quick answers or to take stupid shortcuts causes the

loss of reasoning and solution seeking ability. Rather than becoming absorbed in what they

are being taught, students simply Google a question when they get stuck on something,

potentially cancelling out the comprehending process that would’ve followed the learning of

those pieces. This deprives the very aim of education which is to create self-sustained

individuals who can evaluate and combine information by themselves. Several studies have

compared students who texted during a lecture versus those who did not. Those who texted

typically took lower quality notes, retained less information, and did worse on tests about the

material (e.g. Kuznekoff and Titsworth, 2013, and Rosen et al, 2011; Lee et al, 2017).
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Another goal of imposing the ban on cell phones from the classroom, is broader and

involves teaching the students the realities of the workplace. At the workplace, for example in

an office, workers are often required to concentrate on their work without the interruptions of

retrieving phone messages. By emphasizing the need for concentration and lessening

distractions in learning institutions, the teachers are aiding in the acquisition of the necessary

behaviours needed in the learner’s workplace.

As a case in point, in a professional setting, a worker that attends to their phone throughout in

a work meeting runs the risk of missing important messages and thereby losing the trust of

their coworkers. On the other hand, an individual at the workplace that stays focused and

participates in discussions actively stands to earn better connections with colleagues and

support achieving the purpose of the team. Students will be prepared in the work environment

after they have been trained on regaining concentration after distractions in the classroom.

The other effective area of learning is the social activity that takes place in the

classroom environment. Education also occurs in an environment whereby students can

interact with each other and develop friendship through classrooms. Though they may be

beneficial in some ways, the result is that when people are using cell phones they are

prevented from real interpersonal communication. Students can choose to share all

information and discuss in a chat, in groups, or online, which is not as effective as face-to-

face communication.

Let us take a group work context where students are required to generate ideas in their

group. To this effect, if in the group some of the members are busy with their phones most of

the time, they are likely to deprive the group with ideas, and thus there is little group

harmony and creativity. In contrast, positive attitudes toward the students increase productive
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communications cooperation and the use of viewpoints from other students because of group

projects can enrich the learning deliverables.

In conclusion the opinion against to using of cell phones in classes has several

reasons, which contains the myth of the effectiveness of multitasking, distractions, decrease

in academic performance, and the significance of interpersonal interactions. The sad truth is

that, far from being helpful in the learning process, cell phone use interferes with the

teaching-learning process, encouraging shallow understanding of the material and constant

disruption of class interactions. When schools banned the use of cell phones students can

dedicate their time to studies, the time spent on interacting with fellow learners is well-spent

and students prepare for the reality of their future careers. It means that leaving the cell phone

out of the classroom might be one of the most helpful measures in today’s more and more

distractions.