Cell phones have been widely available and used by many, many people over the past fifteen years, but legislators have yet to reach a decision on their appropriate use in schools. In the early 1990s, many state passed laws banning cell phones from high school property. At this time, cell phones were very expensive, so a popular belief formed that the students who did own cell phones would use them to facilitate drug use. This view evolved as cell phones became more ubiquitous and less expensive. Not even a decade late, many states repealed their ban on student cell phones in high schools.

For those states that did not lift the ban on student cell phones after the late 1990s, many re-thought their position after the Columbine shootings and terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. However, once state legislation is no longer the guideline, then the responsibility of deciding whether or not students should be allowed to carry cell phones falls to the individual school boards. Teachers have long been in favor of cell phone bans, but simultaneously, parents have seemed to be in favor of allowing the students to carry cell phones. What do you think? Check out the pros and cons listed below:

Pros:
• Useful to parents and students when try to schedule after-school activities or changes in plans
• Office staff receive less phone calls because parents can contact their child directly on a cell phone
• Cell phones can prove to be lifesavers in an emergency, providing police with vital and timelyinformation
• Also in an emergency, students can contact their parents directly with cell phones, allowing school phone lines to remain open instead of jammed with calls from many worried parents
• Some teachers have noted that cell phones have legitimate academic uses.
• Many of the cell phones available today have Internet capability, built-in calculators, and memories able to hold entire books
• Cell phones mimic the computers that the classroom may lack in schools with limited technological capabilities.

Cons:

• Cell phones distract the students using them, as well as other students and teachers
• Many teachers have reported that they feel that a phone ringing with text messages and calls is more distracting and disruptive than the normal level of talking during class
• As cell phones become more sophisticated and powerful, opportunities for cheating tend to increase
• In some areas, only the more privileged students actually own cell phones, leading to envy, and theft, among other things

So, what will become of cell phones in the classroom? For now, the decision will still be left up to the individual school boards, but they should make sure to take a look at this list of pros and cons. Evaluating the concerns from both proponents and opponents can aid in the decision of whether or not to ban students’ use of cell phones.