Cell Phones in the Classroom, Lecture notes of English

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Graphic  Organizer  (10  points)  and  Essay  (30  points).     DIRECTIONS:  Closely  read  the  texts  provided  and  write  a  source-­‐‑based  argument  on  the   topic  below.  You  may  use  the  margins  to  take  notes  as  you  read  and  scrap  paper  to  plan   your  response.       Cell  phones  have  become  more  popular  in  the  last  few  years,  especially  in  classrooms.  You   have  been  asked  to  write  an  argumentative  essay  in  which  you  support  a  claim  about   whether  cell  phones  can  be  educational  tools.  Use  information  from  both  texts  in  your   essay.       Your  Task:  Carefully  read  both  of  the  texts  provided.  Using  evidence  from  the  texts,  write  a   well-­‐‑developed  argument  on  cell  phones  in  the  classroom.    Clearly  state  your  claim,  and  use   evidence  from  the  texts  to  develop  your  argument.  DO  NOT  SUMMARIZE  THE  TEXT.   Guidelines:     Be  sure  to:   •   State  a  claim.       •   Use  specific,  relevant,  and  sufficient  evidence  from  either  text  to  develop  your   argument.  Use  the  author  to  cite  your  source.   •   Organize  your  ideas  in  a  cohesive  and  coherent  manner.   •   Use  relevant  information  from  the  passages.  (Text  Based  Details)   •   Maintain  a  formal  style  of  writing.  (No  personal  pronouns.)   •   Follow  the  conventions  of  standard  written  English.   •   Write  an  introduction,  body  paragraph(s),  and  a  conclusion                               Graphic  Organizer  (10  points)     Claim  (4  points):           Evidence  from  the  article(s)  to  support  your  claim  (2  points  each):                                       Source  2:  Why  Cell  Phones  Should  Not  Be  Allowed  in  a   School  Setting   By  James  Merritt   (22)  In  this  modern  world  everyone  has  a  cellphone.  By  2010  seventy-­five  percent  of  twelve  to   seventeen  year  olds  owned  mobile  phones  and  in  the  past  two  years  that  number  has  increased   (Ludden).  Recently,  the  use  of  cell  phones  for  cheating  on  tests,  a  new  method  of  passing   notes,  and  even  cyber  bullying  have  become  major  issues.  Brevard  County  already  has  strict   policies  regarding  phone  use  in  schools,  if  caught  with  a  cell  phone  students  get  a  referral,  their   phone  is  confiscated,  and  after  repeat  offenses  they  can  lose  their  phone  privileges   (Student/Parent  Contract).  But  are  these  rules  strict  enough?  If  fifty-­four  percent  of  students   admit  to  using  phones  in  schools  where  similar  rules  are  in  place,  they  obviously  are  not   (Ludden).  For  the  good  of  the  students  cellphones  need  to  be  banned  from  schools.     (23)  What  would  you  rather  go  a  week  without;;  your  cellphone  or  your  toothbrush?  Forty  percent   of  iPhone  users  answered  toothbrush  to  this  question  (Ludden).  As  a  society  we  are  addicted  to   our  cell  phones  and  students  are  by  far  the  worst  offenders  sending  more  texts  a  day  than  any   other  age  group,  an  average  of  three  hundred  and  thirty-­three  per  month  in  2010  (Watters).   When  the  dismissal  bell  rings  at  just  about  any  school  you  are  sure  to  witness  dozens  of   students  whipping  out  their  phones  almost  instantaneously.  “If  you  can’t  go  six  hours  without   your  phone,  you’re  addicted,”  says  Diane  Phillips,  2011’s  Brevard  County  Teacher  of  the  Year,   at  the  2011-­2012  Brevard  Future  Educators  conference  when  speaking  about  the  distractions  of   phones  while  studying  (Philips).  It  would  be  beneficial  not  only  to  the  education  of  students  but   to  their  health  as  well  to  separate  them  from  their  phones  for  the  time  that  they  are  at  school.  A   study  by  Gaby  Badre  shows  that  teenagers  who  use  their  phones  constantly  often  experience   “increased  restlessness  with  more  careless  lifestyles,  more  consumption  of  stimulating   beverages,  difficulty  in  falling  asleep  and  disruptive  sleep,  and  more  susceptibility  to  stress  and   fatigue.”  (Excessive  Mobile  Phone  Use  Affects  Sleep)  Many  people  who  use  cell  phones  too   much  also  experience  headaches  and  even  a  phantom  ringing  sound  distracting  them  and   keeping  them  awake  at  night.  (Braff)   (24)  Health  effects  aside,  it  is  well  know  that  texting  in  class  has  become  a  growing  epidemic.   When  students  are  allowed  to  have  their  phones  with  them  in  class,  many  will  take  this  as  an   opportunity  to  use  them.  This  leads  to  disruptions  in  class,  bullying,  and  even  cheating  on  tests.   (Cohen)  There  has  also  been  some  discussion  on  whether  texting  affects  spelling  and  writing  in   the  classroom  setting.  If  students  are  texting  in  class,  “computer  talk”  can  affect  their  grades.  In   a  survey  on  edutopia,  fifty-­four  percent  of  people  found  that  texting  was  having  an  effect  on  the   writing  habits  of  young  people.  (Watters)   (25)  One  of  the  most  common  reason  that  parents  like  their  kids  to  keep  their  phones  with  them   at  school  is  so  that  in  the  case  of  an  emergency,  their  kids  can  call  them.  However,  in  an   emergency  situation,  cellphones  can  sometimes  create  as  many  problems  as  they  solve.  Phone   systems  are  only  designed  to  take  so  many  signals  at  once  and  too  many  signals  can  cause  the   system  to  crash.  Take  the  recent  earthquake  in  Virginia  for  example;;  as  many  people  hurried  to   call  their  friends  and  family  the  cell  and  landline  systems  were  down  for  up  to  an  hour.  For  a   short  time  this  created  mass  panic  and  people  thought  cell  towers  and  telephone  poles  were   knocked  down  by  the  earthquake.  In  the  case  of  an  emergency  like  this  it  could  render  the   school’s  phone  system  useless  if  hundreds  of  kids  start  making  calls  all  at  once.  (Rush)  Not  only   can  cell  phones  escalate  emergencies  in  school  they  can  even  cause  them,  students  have  been   known  to  call  in  bomb  threats  in  order  to  get  out  of  class.  Last  year  Jefferson  had  a  bomb  threat,   the  entire  school  was  evacuated  and  the  hazmat  team  had  to  search  the  school.  All  of  that   started  because  of  a  post  on  Facebook  by  a  disgruntled  student  who  didn’t  want  to  go  to  school   that  day.  If  a  student  has  their  phone  on  at  school  when  a  classmate  or  teacher  makes  them   angry  they  could  make  a  post  like  this;;  sending  the  school  into  a  frantic  state  of  emergency.   Although  the  student  would  later  be  expelled  for  the  bomb  threat  but  if  phones  weren’t  allowed   in  the  first  place  cases  like  this  could  be  prevented,  saving  valuable  class  time.   (26)  Allowing  cell  phones  in  school  is  a  danger  to  the  health  and  education  of  students.  Banning   cell  phones  is  in  the  best  interest  of  everyone;;  it  will  help  student’s  grades,  separate  them  from   the  negative  effects  for  a  few  hours,  and  it  helps  the  school  to  keep  students  safe  in  an   emergency,  and  even  prevent  bomb  threats.  Schools  have  the  power  to  help  prevent  all  of   these  things  cell  phones  can  cause  by  simply  banning  them  from  their  campus.