SPA Cell Phone Policy

Phones Improving our Futures

            SPA has a rare opportunity to capitalize on an event that would help its students become better future global citizens. With the school urging SPA administration to change the cell phone policy, it is obvious that students want a change in how the community views phones during school hours. Research has been conducted in other schools and evidence shows how cell phone usage affects students. The data is not fully conclusive yet but provides a trend to show the ways cell phones changes a student’s habits and learning process. Cell phones should be allowed in the SPA community as they provide a tool for learning, a sense of safety and communication in the student body and a way to make us students more responsible technology users.

            Although it has not yet been decided what the new phone policy is going to be in the Upper School, it is clear that the system in place can be and should be improved. The rules regarding phones are hard to regulate and create unnecessary punishments. A 2009 Pew Internet survey highlighted the ineffectiveness of most school’s phone policies. It’s data shows that for a school that does not allow phones in class, like SPA, 81% of students always bring their phone to school and 65% send or receive a text during class (Lenhart). Whatever system schools’ have in place are not doing anything to cut back on phone usage during school hours. The punishments for the few kids who are caught abusing the cell phone policy are more annoying than effective.

   

Statistics showing the usage of cell phones in school ("Majority of teens").

       Whether or not cell phones add or detract from a student’s productivity still needs more evidence to be absolute but there are already noticeable trends, both good and bad. First and foremost, a cell phone provides the perfect communication device for students to parents for scheduling and safety (Shaw). As technology has advanced, a cell phone offers more than one classroom service. With an app students can download their textbooks and reading books for a fraction of the price while still being able to highlight, margin note and take their books to class. A phone also offers a calculator which makes computing science and math problems easier. The camera on a phone allows students to instantly take and share photos of their work, assignments and projects. Phones provide an easily accessible way to stay in touch with teaches and classes through email and other apps. Allowing phones in school also better prepares us for our professional futures. By learning how to use our phones effectively to solve problems while still in high school only helps us in our various future careers. By exposing students to expanding technology, schools, especially SPA, would be able to teach kids how to responsibly use technology. For this next generation, responsible tech users represent an important community that have a lot to offer to the professional world. Altering the phone policy also creates a chance to mend the double stand between teachers and students when it comes to phone and technology use where teachers often use iPads and phones while denying students that very right.

Double standard for teachers ("Teacher").

            Students can use phones during their free periods to pass the time by playing a game instead of becoming restless and disturbing classes. This freedom poses a few areas for abuse but the new policy would need to rely on trust. The school trusts that the students will use their time in school effectively and find a balance between working and relaxing. Although this trust and freedom would not necessarily work in other schools, it has a good prospect in the SPA community.

            The predicted drawbacks of allowing cell phone use in school would not have a big effect on our school and would be outweighed by the benefits. Cell phones are often seen as distractions in a school setting. With a new policy, phones could be allowed during free periods and not in the classroom. Although this probably won’t alter the percentages of students who text in class by a significant amount, it would reduce the unnecessary punishments for students using their phones. Cheating is another main proposed drawback for the use of cell phones and statistics show how cheating increased as cell phones became more readily available for use in school (Johnson). Considering SPA's Discipline Committee and the severity of punishment for academic dishonesty, a student using a phone to cheat is unlikely but probably unavoidable. With every system there will be a select few who abuse it but that does not make the system itself bad. Depending on how extensive their uses are in each class, teachers could collect phones before a test to prevent cheating.

Student sneakily cheating using his phone ("Student Cheating").

           An interesting aspect of the argument is how the presence of phones could highlight differences in socioeconomic status, however this does not seem to pose a big of an issue in SPA’s community due to its mature students who understand the differences and individuality of students. Another possible drawback is how this policy change could affect students by making them become too reliant on technology. Though phones can offer a benefit to students, it might just tighten the bonds that kids create to a technology that constantly wants them to stay connected and share their experiences. For SPA, this is unlikely as our students are able to distinguish themselves from their devices and use these tools without getting lost in the new technologically advanced world. In other schools, however, it is more likely that a student’s use of cell phones in school could result in a phone being an intellectual crutch for students.

           Introducing cell phones in a school community is not always the best option for a school, but in SPA's case, a change in pace could not be more welcomed. SPA has the capability to create an effective cell phone policy that reduces the drawbacks of cell phone use while finding beneficial ways to use them in classrooms and in learning experiences. SPA students are well prepared to use cell phones purposely and within the guidelines of the new policy. This is an opportunity to embrace a new aspect of technology and master it before finishing high school and it allows SPA to create thoughtful, productive, and capable students.

                                                                     Works Cited

Johnson, M. Alex. "Bans don't work, so administrators explore using mobile devices." MSNBC 3 Feb. 2010, Technology & Science: n. pag. Print.

Lenhart, Amanda, et al. "Teens and Mobile Phones." Pew Internet. Pew Internet, 20 Apr. 2010. Web. 2 Feb. 2014. <http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Teens-and-Mobile-Phones/Chapter-4/Mobile-phones-and-schools.aspx?r=1>.

"Majority of teens can have cell phones at school but not in class." Teens and Mobile Phones. PewInternet, 20 Apr. 2010. Web. 2 Feb. 2014. <http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Teens-and-Mobile-Phones/Chapter-4/Mobile-phones-and-schools.aspx?r=1>.

Shaw, Katherine. "Students and Cell Phones: Controversy in the Classroom." Associated Content. Yahoo, 19 Aug. 2009. Web. 2 Feb. 2014. <http://bluevaletgj2o.pbworks.com/f/Student%20Cell%20Phone%20Use.pdf>.

"Student Cheating." proctorfree. proctorfree, 27 Jan. 2014. Web. 2 Feb. 2014. <http://proctorfree.com/blog/kapiolani-community-college-changes-testing-protocols-response-cheaters>.

"Teacher Phone Ringing." Quick meme. quick meme, n.d. Web. 2 Feb. 2014. <http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/35aoc4>.

Striving for Perfection

Humans are not perfect. To us humans, that is a very annoying idea. We are at the top of our food chain. We dominate the creatures and objects in the world around us. We are even searching for other forms of intelligent life. Yet we are not perfect. There are still things about us that we wish to change because they would make us fundamentally better. And in this sense, evolution is failing us. Our species has already reached the top so from a natural world, there is no need to improve. Yet we are still struggling to make everyone perfect. That is where technology comes into play.

Initially, we started developing and using technology in order to enhance the abilities and traits that nature gave us. We developed devices to aid the ill. We developed devices to communicate with each other. We developed computers to help us answer questions. And then, we realized that this technology can be improved. We moved from printing presses to typewriters to laptops. In everything that we look at, we see its imperfections instead of their innate benefits. Once we reached a plateau in technological advancements, we began looking at ourselves. We started to see the things about us that aren’t perfect as things that can and should be improved. Instead of improving them, however, we developed tools that made these imperfections unnoticeable. Instead of using “nature” to help strengthen our weaknesses, we relied on technology to do it for us. We thought that we weren’t smart enough, so we created computers that would think for us. How ironic.

For creatures with a “God-complex,” I find it funny that we don’t think that our creations can challenge or even surpass us. God created angels. From this creation, Lucifer, God’s favorite angel, questioned God’s authority and was expelled from Heaven. In the beginning there wasn’t good and bad, there was only good. The bad came from the good. God created his enemy. So then how foolish are we to think that we cannot create something that is better than us.

            I honestly think that we are heading towards a Terminator, Matrix, Total Recall world where technology either surpasses us or creates a false reality. I don’t think that it will happen within the next 50 years but I think that humans are too greedy and too naïve to believe that anything bad could ever happen. We picture a perfect world and believe that we can create it but fail to see the challenges and the consequences of our actions. Although people think that their phones and technology aren’t having an effect on their lives it is clear that people are changing as technology does. I hope that I am not around if this dystopian world where computers are smarter, faster, and stronger than us but if I am, I hope that I am able to see it coming instead of staring at a screen as my mind gets smaller and smaller.