One statistic that surprised me was that 79% of teens have a cell phone. I understand that kids today are living in a technological world but I do not feel that it is necessary for teenagers to have cell phones. Most of them are not responsible enough to use them when appropriate and put them away when they should not be using them. I know more and more teens have cell phones but I did not realize it was that high. My children did not get their first cell phones until they went to college because they did not need them before that. If they were somewhere where I was going to need to get hold of them they took mine or my husbands with them or enough of their friends had them that they could just borrow one. Other numbers that surprised me was 46% of children in the United States from ages 9-11 had cell phones and 20% of children ages 6-8 had them. I do not feel that teenagers need cell phones, let alone elementary age children.
Summarize in your own words the pros and cons for cell phone use in the classroom.
The con for children having cell phones is they abuse the privilege of having them. As I stated above they are not responsible enough to use their cell phones appropriately or at appropriate times and put them away when they should not be using them. The number of students you see playing with their cell phones in class and texting when they should be listening and paying attention in class is completely ridiculous. They will not take the responsibility of putting them away. They misuse them by cheating, sexual harassment, prank calls, and harassing others as well as not using them at appropriate times. It does not help that parents who allow their children to have cell phones do not teach them to follow rules for their use or follow any rules for themselves.
The pro for having cell phones is that there are many useful tools for the children to use. They have many devices such as cameras, watches, alarm clocks, calendars, calculators, research reference, games and other features that could be useful depending on what kind of phone they have. Having access to a phone in case of an emergency is also a benefit, but only if the child is taught to use the phone appropriately and are willing to follow the rules connected with the responsibility of having a cell phone. They can be useful tools if only the children who have them can be responsible with the privilege of having one.
What do you see as the best idea for cell phone use with students, as suggested in the chapter?
Well, I think you can tell from my previous two answers that I feel that the best idea for cell phone use with students is to establish and model ground rules for the use of cell phones in and out of the classroom. I feel that if students having cell phones is to be prompted in the future, they must be taught that it is a privilege and responsibility to have a cell phone, not a right. If they want to keep their cell phone they must demonstrate that they can handle that responsibility but how will they learn if they are not taught with ground rules. It is also important for parents and teachers to model these rules for the students so that they can learn the rules but see how important they are.
If students can learn to use their cell phones responsibly I really like the idea of them using their cameras to take picture and download to use for projects as well as the teachers being able to download study and guides and other reference materials to the students.
I agree with your perspectives on cell phone use, although we allowed our children to have cell phones once they started to drive. There are almost no payphones around any more if one has trouble on the road. Borrowing one from Mom or Dad puts Mom or Dad out of reach, unless they are together. Using someone else's wasn't an option for us because we do not lend (as a general rule) and then should not expect to borrow. While we would call for someone else it is awkward in some situations to relay a conversation.
ReplyDeleteIn any case, many families have surprisingly young latchkey kids and supervise through regularly scheduled cell phone contact. Again, not what our family would do - but we know some who do it that way. Some have kids call in from Day Care if something does not suit.
Back to school, I think the point is that regardless of why the kids have phones, if they do - why not use them? Clearly this is more likely to be useful in the upper grades than lower. And there are questions about how to frame an assignment so that kids without phones have alternatives.
Thanks for your thoughts... :-)