The Problem of Cell Phones in the Classroom

Many school districts are grappling with the issue of cell phones in the classroom, with two sides to the debate. Some parents are concerned about student safety and the ability to contact their children in case of an emergency. Meanwhile, educators view cell phones as a distraction to learning. School administrators have attempted to find a solution, but the issue remains controversial.

In part one of this subject, I mentioned that I had not commented on cell phones in the classroom until now. However, as a retired teacher with 30 years of experience teaching at all grade levels in public schools, I have concerns—especially when it comes to student academic achievement.

According to a recent report, achievement levels for fourth and eighth grades have fallen in 2024 and are still performing below pre-pandemic levels. This raises some important questions: Why are students still struggling?

When I was in the classroom almost twenty years ago, there were no cell phones to contend with. However, students still faced distractions from instruction. These distractions included social interactions, relationships at home, violence in the community, and sometimes negative teacher interference, lack of discipline in the classroom, and lack of parental support. I observed many teachers who did not believe students could learn, and they did not try to teach.

Though there were many good teachers, some did not know how to manage their classrooms or handle disruptive students. I always believed that if you could not control the classroom, you could not truly teach. If you were a good math or science teacher but had discipline problems in the classroom and couldn't get the attention of your students, the lessons would fall on deaf ears.

When it comes to student interactions, students often do things the teacher may or may not be aware of in certain situations.

Here is a situation from my classroom in January 2001. While clearing out my files recently, I found a letter written by one of my students. I will not use his name in this article, but I do remember him. He was a fifth-grade student. The letter surprised me when I read it. In it, he wrote:

"Dear Mrs. Doyle,

I will not act silly in class. Can you move my seat away from Bianca today so I can get away from Jeremy? I will get back on track. I will cooperate with you and other teachers. I will not try to impress Bianca, Jeremy, or Anthony. I will not fool around. I will not play in my seat. I will behave. I will keep up my grades. I am sorry about my behavior."

He signed his name at the end of the letter. This letter was written 24 years ago, and it represents what I mean by student interaction in the classroom. Imagine if we had cell phones back then—would the message have been different?

I believe this student genuinely cared about his behavior and was sorry for acting out in class. He was probably not paying attention to the lesson. I wonder how many other notes he passed around. In today's classrooms, students use cell phones to initiate fights or arguments that can lead to violence outside of school. We have witnessed this in schools across the country.

I suggest that students today face many distractions in the classroom that educators may not be aware of. The latest data on cell phone usage indicates that we still have a long way to go to help our students achieve higher levels in schools.