A teacher might ban cell phones from the classroom to avoid distractions while maintaining students' focus on learning.

Could banning cell phones from the classroom be the key to a more focused learning process?

A teacher plays an important role in the student learning process, and can therefore ban cell phones from students in order to create an environment without distractions. With a technological device students are able to do several things that disturb the classroom, such as unauthorize use, chatting, cheating. These behaviors are very common in a classroom and if the teacher wants to create an environment that supports students’ success, banning cell phones from the classroom might be necessary. The teacher might ban cell phones to capture student’s attention, in order to create a focused learning process: distractions of texts, calls, video games, to avoid cheating, unauthorized used, to maintain a proper environment.

First, if a student uses a cell phone in a classroom, it can be distracting, especially receiving notifications from social media. These distractions from social media and notifications produce a shift in attention between their phone and classroom activities. For instance, when students receive a notification, as well as revising texts, calls, can cause them distraction. Furthermore, playing video games covertly is very common within the classroom, which are sources of distraction that lead to desconcentration. Doing these activities that are not related to the learning process can cause students a negative impact. As students focus on the cell phone, face- to- face interactions lose effectiveness in areas such as communication and body language. Consequently, the lack of interaction with the teacher and classmates will eventually result in disconnection, making it difficult for students to have a good development in the learning process. Additionally, not being aware of the class is a problem due to the importance of the learning process and staying focused in the material of the class. Moreover, students can be affected in their personal motivation when there is a disconnection from reality.

 

Second, if a student uses a cell phone in the classroom when completing a task, their performance may not be honest and students would eventually cheat. For example, when students use a cell phone to help themselves in activities their learning will be affected, causing negative consequences in future understandings, even for basic knowledge. Furthermore, when students access information online and using it as their own, it can be a problem causing them to commit plagiarism. Moreover, students are the ones that need to work on task that lead them to develop necessary skills that can only be worked on in school activities, but if students use a cell phone instead those skills will never be developed. For instance, Lack of critical thinking, problem-solving are crucial skills that students need to work on, and can be found in basic school subjects, such as math, science, etc. But if they rather use a cell phone to get a quick answer instead of thinking, they will encounter difficulties later on. Additionally, students that rely on technological devices to perform schoolwork, will encounter negative academic performance, such as poor personal interest in learning, lower grades, and decrease in motivation.

 Finally, if a student uses a cell phone in the classroom without the teacher’s authorization, students are violating the institutional regulations. According to Harvard graduate school of education, students who are caught breaking the institutional regulation will encounter suspensions (Harvard graduate school of education, 2022). This unauthorized use can cause disturbance in the entire classroom, including the teacher. As a result of the interruptions caused by cell phones, if students are caught using the cell phone during class hours they will go through a negative academic. As a consequence of their acts receiving a punishment would be the outcome such as removal of the technological devise and detention are very common punishments. But students might encounter different types of corrections depending on the level of their actions. It is also disrespectful towards the teacher and classmates. Consequently, besides being a distraction, other students might want to repeat the same, and will eventually create an atmosphere of disturbance, provoking a negative impact in the entire classroom.

In conclusion, teachers might ban cell phones from the classroom: To avoid distractions, control students’ performance, prevent cheating and unauthorized use, and maintain a proper environment for the students’ learning process. It is advisable that teachers should monitor students during the class to maintain a proper environment for the learning process. By monitoring students, teachers can create a better atmosphere to maintain students engaged and focused during class. This approach indeed helps a more supportive classroom environment to achieve students’ success.