Cell Phones in the Classroom: Can You Hear Me Now?

In a darkened classroom, a group of freshmen is watching a DVD of Romeo and Juliet, the Zeffireli version. The teacher is seated in the back, not for a good view of the TV but for a good view of the students, for he knows that when the lights go down and the movie starts, students begin to believe that they are invisible. He keeps reminding himself to make sure to skip chapter 13 of the movie, or he will be in his bosses' office by the end of the day.

The first ten minutes of a movie are usually quiet and students actually watch the movie as they critically assess whether the material selected by the teacher actually merits their continued attention. After that, most students will turn their separate ways. Some will talk. Some will write notes to their loved ones. Some will catch up on sleep. Some will turn to electronic devices (generally cell phones and calculators, you wouldn't believe what you can do on a calculator these days). It is the teacher's job to make sure that none of that happens. On this day, most of the students are soon turned off by the Shakespearean dialogue and look for something else to do.

The school has a policy that allows students to possess cell phones, but that the cell phones must remain off and out-of-sight. Students caught in violation of this policy have their phones confiscated for the day, are assessed a $3.00 fine, and the parents are notified of the infraction. While some say that this punishment is a mere slap on the wrist, students really hate losing their phones for the day. If the phones are supposed to stay off and out-of-sight, why do they hate losing it for the day? The temptation is simply too great for a teenager to have a cell phone in his or her pocket and not to use it in some way. Students will exhibit urgent needs to use the bathroom, will text message without taking their phones out of their pockets (quite a talent), and even use them during movies when the dark gives them cover. The phones take pictures, record and show videos, play games, send and receive text messages, record voice mail, not to mention function as mobile phones.

As Romeo laments an unnamed Rosaline, the teacher notices a girl taking way too much interest in the contents of her purse. He waits a moment and the tell-tale glow of the cell screen briefly casts a pale-blue sheen across her face. He walks over to her; she is so involved in her text that she doesn't notice until he stands over her, watching her hunt and peck a message. She claims that her "received text message" light had gone off and thought it might be her mom with a message of vital import, could she check it? He takes it from her. She can get it at the end of the day. She was texting her boyfriend at another school about the boring movie that she was being forced to watch. Alas.

What are schools to do about the growing power and ubiquity of cell phones? They are powerful tools and convenient ways to transmit important information.

Two recent news stories highlight the unintended consequences of new technology. One, from CNN.com outlines the debate between the City of New York, which has banned student cell phones from school grounds and a number of parents who insist that their students have to have cell phones or they can't be good parents. The story can be found here. The second story, from Breitbart.com, reports on a new, high-pitched ringtone that is only hearable by the young and is the perfect tone for school use as the old, deaf teachers will not be able to hear it. This story can be found here. Older stories report on the use of cell phones for cheating, the inappropriate use of cell phone cameras in the locker room, and a host of other misdeeds enabled by the use of cell phones.

What did we do before cell phones?

Next on TOLN: "Ancient Discovery: Early Native American Shamans Disparage Students Use of New Smoke Signals; Children Burned, Obscene Messages Sent, Bugs Thrown in Fire"


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