Use of mobile phones in schools essay

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Argumentative Essay on the Use of Mobile Phones in Schools

The use of mobile or cell phones in learning institutions, specifically schools, has elicited debate and bitter arguments, not only in the United States of America, but in the world as a whole. While part of society has supported the use of cell phones in schools, the other part has opposed their use bitterly. Mobile phone manufacturers, such as Apple and Samsung, have targeted students as their main market and thus they have designed various models with lots of features(what features mention it?)in order to attract them. Despite the fact that the use of mobile phones by students in schools can be used positively and constructively in order to enhance their learning, the same technological devices can be utilized negatively, which distracts them and their teachers and in turn disrupts the learning process. For instance, whilst the students can use mobile phones positively by accessing or downloading important academic materials from the worldwide web, the same can also be used to get access towards destructive pornographic(Change the pornographic to something else like distraction: talking to friends all the time- playing games- youtube-twitter-facebook… ) contents from online sources thus destroying students’ morals. There are various reasons as to why mobile phones should not be used by students in schools and other learning institutions through giving tangible evidence. There are various arguments from critics calling for the use of mobile phones in schools by the students( make the thesis more simple if you want to change it its okay. ).

Mobile phones should not be used in schools and other institutions of learning as the students can misuse. Despite the fact that the current mobile phones are well equipped with other additional features like email, Short Messaging Services (SMS), MP3 players, radio, blue tooth, Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) and cameras, students have tended to misuse them through cyber bullying (Mention more about (harmful/depression / suicide/)) whereby they hurl insults and write vulgarity to harm other students through social platforms like Facebook and twitter. This misuse is bound to happen given the fact that research has indeed indicated that fifty four percent (54%) of young people poses cellphones on each given day (write reference [name,date]). Statistics show that thirty eight percent (38%) of young people have experienced cyber bullying and twenty five percent (25%) of teenagers have been bullied repeatedly through their cell phones (put reference 1 and 2 on the red color down). Sadly, statistics also show that at least half of teenage suicides are related to bullying (reference 3) . Students should not use cell phones in schools due to the fact that they cause considerable distractions during class time. For instance, some student in class may have a loud or funny ringtone that disrupt learning whenever one receives a call or an SMS. This happens because some students forget to switch off their phones and as a result, they make a lot of noise during class time that eventually disrupts the normal learning process. It is a known fact that for any successful or meaningful learning to occur, then the learning environment should be freed from barriers that can hinder effective communication between the teachers and the students (Ahmed, et al 2010). Such barriers include among them noise emanating from people, animals and even mobile phones and it is due to this fact that the use of mobile phones in the school environment by students should never be accepted (Ahmed, et al 2010).

Another reason why mobile phones should never be accepted in schools is the fact that their use has been known to hinder the retention of learnt knowledge by the students (reference). It has been established that some of the students have become addicted to the use of mobile phones to the extent that their rate of knowledge retention is too low because of minds that are preoccupied with social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (reference). The use of mobile phones by students in schools should be discouraged or banned altogether since their use has been linked or associated with exam cheating thus gaining an unfair advantage over their classmates who have used just and fair means(reference). Students who use these means of cheating eventually contribute to a community that is ill-equipped to face the future since they passed their exams through unjust means and thus the economic status of the places they are employed in rarely grow due to unskilled personnel (Doron, 2013).

Another reason why mobile phones should be banned is the fact that some students pry into the privacy of their fellow classmates through their mobiles (reference 5). The pictures and videos obtained from such incidences are then posted on social sites like Facebook and twitter without their owners’ knowledge and consent causing great harm to them (reference4). The invading of other people’s privacy is socially immoral and thus in order to avoid such instances in the school environment, the school should ban the use of cellular or mobile phones within its premises.

On the other hand, some argue that the use of mobile phones in schools and other learning institutions should be allowed because they aid students in accessing some of the vital academic contents from the Internet in the absence of computers. The use of advanced mobile phones by students in the school enables them to easily locate and gain access to the educational resources from the virtual world thus enhancing their knowledge and academic experience. The banning of mobile phones by the school administration will hinder students from getting relevant academic materials from the Internet since they will be forced to rely on the materials provided in class by their teacher, which are not always readily available. Also, it will force the large number of student to queue for the few available computers that are provided by the school. Therefore the school administrations should allow students to bring and use mobile phones in schools on the condition that such gadgets are constructively used to enhance student learning, performance and eventually success through fair and just means (Daley,et al 2001).

The lack of computers in some schools has shown to causes a negative impact on students, as they are not able to have around the clock access to research materials to conduct any meaningful research from web sources in order to improve their classroom learning. Due to this fact, allowing students to possess mobile phones in schools will enable them the means to access boundless sources of information from the web. Another good use for mobile phones would be the ability to make video clips of their school activities through using their mobile phones to store and play them whenever they need (Finney, et al. 2010). Additionally, the students should be allowed to use mobile phones in schools because, apart from helping them to plan their learning activities, mobile phones also help them to efficiently organize their class work by using electronic academic calendars and planners (Finney, et al. 2010).

Given the fact that a school is normally defined as an institution or place for progressive and systematic education and instruction, then the use of mobile phones should never be allowed at all (reference 6 ). Therefore, the school is a place in which the learners should be capable to learn through the help, supervision and guidance of their teachers without the interference of unregulated and unreliable information. Students also negatively make use of their mobile phones through taking photo shots of their friends while in the bathroom and “sextexting” their classmates (reference 7). This misuse is a clear example of sexual harassment and bullying that should never be allowed or encouraged in any learning institution anywhere in the world. Theft cases in learning institutions have also become rampant due to the fact that most smart mobile phones are expensive and pose as a valuable prize for any thief (reference 8). In order to avoid such cases, it is prudent that the possession and subsequent use of mobile phones by students in schools should be banned altogether. According to some critics, it has been argued that the issue of bullying and exam cheating has escalated and mobile phones cannot be blamed entirely (reference 9). However, it should be noted that research has shown that teenage students are susceptible to addiction and therefore the constant and regular use of cell phones by students to the point of addiction is a grave threat to their academic performance and their lives (Thomas, 1998).