top of page

Struggling in class? It might be your phone.

It's officially midterm week, and if you're struggling to get those grades up, you might want to turn off your phone.

cell phone distraction

You walk into any college course and what do you see? At least half the students on their cellphones or other electronic devices while the professor is teaching. While some are using their laptops to take notes, follow along with the PowerPoint, or do research on the topic at hand, there are many students who are not.

Cellphone use in class causes several severe side effects. According to Anya Kamenetz, cellphone use in class has been linked to a decrease in letter grade -which is MAJOR for students. Let me remind you, teachers, that your students' grades are correlated to your ability to be successful, too.

Cellphones do not provide support when it comes to taking notes or participating in class. I know from personal experience that no student, including myself, uses his or her cellphone during class to take notes. Cellphones are far too small to type lengthy notes for an hour and a half when we can use our laptop. Personally, if I am ever on my phone during class, 100% of the time I am using it as a distraction- either by texting or getting on social media. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve missed something important in class from being distracted by another student on their cellphone.

cheating with cell phone

The last damaging effect it has is allowing easy access to cheating. You can now find the answer to almost anything on the internet, so if students have access to their phones while taking their Spanish test or Microbiology finals, they will receive a higher grade than they deserve -which isn’t fair for those who didn't cheat.

Teachers! There are several ways to lower and possibly eliminate cellphone use during class to put an end to all these negative side effects:

  • Try offering incentives- maybe you feel it’s childish and unethical to offer extra credit for something students should already be doing, but it is an option

  • Lead by example- When we see you using your cellphone during class, we think it’s okay for us to use ours

  • Enforce stricter rules and repercussions for when someone is caught using the cellphone- if the student is using it during a graded assignment, that should be counted as cheating and should receive a zero

  • Set stricter class rules and let it be known when and when not cellphone use in class is allowed

bottom of page