Technology is always progressing in all areas of our lives, but perhaps the fastest growing technological market place is in the world of communications. It seems that every single day some new process or gadget is created that lets us stay in touch with each other in ways that are always growing and changing.

While these new developments start in the hands of the tech savvy crowd, or the ones who can afford the new device, it is not too long before that new cell phone or table personal computer finds its way into the hands of a child. Teachers are always looking for ways to bring technology into the classroom, but they probably never had cell phones in mind when they started to follow that policy.

Nowadays there are probably more kids that have cell phones in school than those that do not, particularly in high school but even in middle school as well. These create a new type of situation that teachers almost certainly never thought they would have to deal with when it came to maintaining discipline and order in the classroom. It also creates a very important and controversial question that must be addressed by school authorities: should students be allowed to bring their cell phones onto school grounds during school hours?

Although most people, at first blush, might consider the question and immediately dismiss the idea that students should have cell phones in school, there is, on the one hand, some practical argument in favor of kids having cell phones. For one thing, if the phone belongs to child, and if his bringing it into class does not create a disturbance, then where is the harm? One would think that the basis for making rules in the classroom is to prevent behavior that gets in the way of learning, and if there is no reason to believe that having a cell phone in class is a problem, then why prohibit it?

Certainly if the student was using the phone during class, or sending text messages, or if the ringer was going, there would clearly be grounds for some disciplinary action. All regular classroom rules regarding disruption should and would still apply. However, if the cell phone is not actually causing a problem, why make it a problem? It makes more sense to let the students and the teacher focus on the task at hand, instead of worrying about adhering to, or enforcing, unnecessary rules.

Beyond that, there may be a number of students whose parents would feel much more comfortable knowing that their children had some way to contact them in case of an emergency. It seems unlikely that any such occurrence would take place, but these days there can be no telling what sort of thing might happen at a school.

The classroom is an extremely important place, and teachers, parents, and school officials must take steps to make sure that nothing gets in the way of what is, of course, the fundamental purpose of teachers, and schools, and classrooms in the first place: to teach students about the subject matter. However, the mere presence of a cell phone in a class room does not cause any type of disturbance at all.

If the phone goes off and causes a problem, it should be treated like any other disturbance, just as if the student had any other type of noise making device and did not take steps to keep it quiet. However, if the phone stays quiet, there is no practical reason why the administration should take a perfectly innocuous situation and make it an issue.

Author Bio: Laura Randall writes articles pertaining to education and school, but she also weighs in on dozens of other topics. Her real passions lie in writing about the best LSAT prep, though she is also on the staff over at Testing Is Easy.

Category: Computers and Technology
Keywords: cell phone,school,classroom,teachers,education,policy,rules,high school,students,technology