Seventh, eighth-grade students should be allowed to have phones in class as long as they are on silent

Comic by Zainab Shafquat Adil

Devices are incredibly useful tools and wonderful ways to connect with people and access resources. Students have access to their laptop during school hours, and many have difficulty always using those for the purposes intended. Having class time to disconnect with zero ability to check one’s phone and see what is happening on Instagram, Twitter, etc. Hence the administration needs to allow phones in class for all of the Middle School as long as they are on silent. 

In a survey sent out by the Scroll, 52.5 percent of students responded that they believe that phones should be allowed but should be kept on silent. If phones are allowed in school, then the administration does not need to give an authoritarian approach on banning phones. According to the school rules, the use of a mobile device is forbidden within the school day.

Phones have upsides and they are not a distraction. Devices are incredibly useful tools and they are great ways to connect with people around the world and to access resources. This is shown as  if phones are allowed, students will be able to find, read and educate themselves with different methods and techniques. Phones also give the possibility to download apps which are not available on laptop so that they can increase the ways of learning. Phones provide all the other information that is only compatible on their phones and not on their laptop. The use of electronic devices in class in general is a good idea because it changes the methods we use to learn. 

Secondly, using social media can help keep students interested in the topic as they can research topics on their social media and then encourage them to participate in the discussion. Social media has benefits; for example, in eighth grade, Twitter accounts are used in social studies classes to learn about current events.

Computers give access to information which cannot be found in textbooks. Mobile phones can give students access to more information, letting them research more about a topic before having class discussions. This is especially true for current events that have not yet been covered in school textbooks.

On the other hand, some may say that students have the access to this on their laptop. With the incorporation of phones into the educational system of ASL would be a great idea as it would increase the number of methods students can use to research and the way they use social media.

The inclusion of phones into the academic curriculum will benefit all as it teaches all to use their phones and the internet in a safer and better way. The incorporation of phones into classes helps with the way topics are researched. For example the #marchforourlives has used social media to educate the American public on who the  National Rifle Association (NRA) has been avoiding to pass legislation on gun control. The way their campaign has been run is mostly on social media, which is most easily accessible on a mobile device and not on a laptop. 

In the High School Students are allowed to have their phones out but they must be on silent at all times during classes. I believe that this is a good compromise for the upper half of the Middle School as the transition between middle school and high school is important and one of the ways this should be implemented is by adapting the rules of mobile devices to seventh and eighth grades.

I believe that the Middle School Should allow students to carry their phones around in class as they increase productivity and increase the research techniques students use in all classes. Phones increase the way students focus and the methods used to communicate among students and teachers.

About Rudi Stern ('22)

Opinions Editor (2017-18)

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