Quino 1

Emy Quino
Professor Spitler-Lawson
English 113B
March 2, 2016
Essay 1: Project Web
Word Count: 1254
Cell Phones Taking Over Schools
Cell phones are changing the way we live our lives day to day. Making the way we do
things faster and more efficient. The generations to come will be born with technology and
technology is advancing. Cell phones have become a distraction in American classrooms as it
becomes a source of cheating, bullying, and lack of motivation. Cell phones in classrooms are
not a good mixture. School is for learning with no distractions and staying focused. Cell phones
are now attached to a child and have become more than a way to communicate but has given
children the opportunity to make irresponsible decisions.
In a Sarah Glazer article called Plagiarizing and Cheating, she wrote about phones
being used to cheat. Cheating may happen when people have so much pressure to succeed, too
much competition, and are not learning the material. Cell phones have made it very easy to
cheat; using the internet or pictures. Harvard University went through a cheating scandal which
resulted to investigating 125 students for plagiarizing. Up to eighty percent of student in High
School have admitted to cheating on tests. The percentage is high on how many students cheat on
school assignments and just keeps getting higher. Stuyvesant High School students caught giving
each other the answers through text messages. The article stated that there is a cheating culture.
Almost every student is doing it and it is becoming a trend. Cheating is becoming something that

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the people are not embarrassed about and some think it is the cool thing to do. Glazer wrote,
According to an ethics survey of 23,000 high school students by the Los Angeles-based
Josephson Institute, one-third of high school students say lying and cheating is necessary to get
ahead in life (Glazer, Plagiarizing and Cheating). Glazer explained how a high percentage of
students feel so much pressure that they are willing to cheat to get ahead. Students are feeling as
though there is no other way than to cheat. It is horrible how these students feel so lost and are
having trouble understanding that they need to cheat. Teachers should collect all phones at the
beginning of class and teach, because this way all students will only be focused on learning the
material. I had a teach that would do this everyday and I found myself retaining and absorbing
more information since my mind was not on my phone. Although, there is nothing cool about
getting expelled for cheating. College and Universities take cheating very seriously. Passing the
answers through text or using pictures on the phone to copy from are the most popular. When I
was in High School, I witnessed so much cheating. Everyone I sat around used their phones to
text each other the answers and would take pictures of the test to send it to the next group of
people that would take the test. They would use their cell phones because it was easy and quick.
Eventually, the teacher caught on and the students that were cheating got in a lot of trouble.
Students think cheating is helping them get higher grades which may be true bit their knowledge
is definitely not strengthening or broadening. Cell phones have become a tool to help students
cheat and a tool to help students take a short cut rather than learning the material. Cell phones
during school only tease children to do something they should not be doing. Therefore, cell
phones are not helpful or useful during school hours.
Jon Aker wrote an article, Student Cell Phones Should Be Prohibited in k-12 Schools,
which covered the different issues cell phones cause when used during school. One serious issue

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is bullying. Bullying has become a huge serious problem everywhere. Bullying in school is most
popularly done by text messages or through social media; known as cyber bullying. Cell phones
being used during school allow kids to spread rumors in a matter of seconds. Students are also
taking inappropriate pictures or videos of others and using it to embarrass and hurt them. For
example, when I was in High School naked photos of a girl were being spread all over the
school. By lunch, everyone had seen them. Everyone was saying things to her and continued to
spread the pictures during school. The administration and police got involved because of how
serious the situation got. I saw first hand how cell phones help information get around to
everyone in school in just a couple hours. Cell phones are dangerous and school is supposed to
be a safe place. Although, cell phones are said to be turned off during school hours, students still
use them and break the rules. Children will hurt and humiliate others during school with the help
of cell phones and it has caused children to go into severe depression and even suicide. A cell
phone not being used properly during school can lead to a loss of a life. Cell phones are not
needed nor safe being used during school.
Cell phones are a distraction and are taking away from learning time. Michael Berry
wrote about a survey that students at public and private colleges took to better understand how
many times students are on their phones during class. Michael Berry found that, more than 80%
of students use their phone at least once per class and that students generally believe this to be an
acceptable practice (Berry, Dial D for Distraction). That is a really high percentage and it is
disappointing. Almost all my classmates are on their cell phones before, during, and after class.
All throughout lectures and important videos shown in class, students are stuck on their phones
under their desks. Then, when they are called on they have no idea what is going on because they
were too busy texting and roaming on social media. Students are not taking advantage of the

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great opportunity they have to be able to go to school and get educated. Also, during an
important lecture almost every class, there is a students cell phone that goes off. The ringing of a
cell phone ruins the flow of the lecture and looses the focus of the students paying attention. Me
being a young student, I understand the obsession with my cell phone. My generation spends too
much time on cell phones and I think a classroom is the one place it should not be used in. There
is a time and place for personal time and using your cell phone during class is not one. For
example, I do not use my phone during class because I am paying for the class and it would be a
waste of time and money to not pay attention. Cell phones have become students obsession and
the biggest distraction during school.
Cell phones are what helps people communicate and makes life so much easier, although
the negative aspects have beat the positive. Cell phones in school have only been a distraction
and negatively used during school hours. Cell phones being banned from school with not only
help the child focus and not feel the need to cheat but will also prevent bullying. Cell phones not
being allowed to be used during school will help a childs motivation and will help keep the child
focused on just the material being taught, not what is going on in the cell phone. Cell phones
being used during school does not positively impact a student but in many negative ways, such
as the desire to cheat, bullying, and stay distracted.

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Work Cited
Aker, Jon, Kentucky Center for School Safety. Student Cell Phones Should Be Prohibited in K12 Schools.
Berry, Michael J., and Aubrey Westfall. "Dial D for Distraction: The Making and Breaking of
Cell Phone Policies in the College Classroom." College Teaching 63.2 (2015): 62-71.
ProQuest. Web. 1 Mar. 2016.
Glazer, Sarah. "Plagiarism and Cheating." CQ Researcher 4 Jan. 2013: 1-28. Web. 1 Mar. 2016.