Yellow Jacket Times - Jefferson County Public Schools

Tweeting and Shooting Angry Birds
Myles Brock
Nowadays, we use technology for everything. With the endless tasks that
modern technology can efficiently complete, technology is more than welcome in
any field of work, except school. School is one of the places that can benefit from
the use of technology the most, but with the iron fist rules that most faculties
have over student’s useful resources like phones, laptops, etc., they don’t realize
they’re not helping, but handicapping students more than anything. Why turn in
chicken scratch work on crumpled notebook paper, instead of a properly spell
checked Word document? Why fall asleep looking through a 50 year old
pic
dictionary for 5 minutes instead of just Googling a definition in two seconds? Why
spend thousands of dollars buying graphing calculators for students when most
have one right in their pocket? The internet is a vast world full of tools that can teach students like no text book ever
could.
Before 2001, it was illegal to have cell phones in school. They were disruptive, and were associated with drug
deals and other illegal activities. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, parents were concerned about their kid’s
safety, so congress left it up to schools to decide whether or not to allow cell phones. Even with the right to let students
use cell phones, some states, like Rhode Island, still follow the guidelines of the old law, that students can’t carry cell
phones in school. Some schools allow students to bring cell phones to school as long as they’re off and put away. Other
schools still don’t allow students to carry cell phones at all in school. I don’t know about the rest of America, but none of
my friends, or anyone I’ve ever met, has used their cell phone to conduct a drug deal in the middle of class, Nor any
other illegal activity. I’m pretty sure if students public school students were allowed use of their cell phones, they
wouldn’t organize a diamond heist. Also, these guidelines are dated before 2001! That’s over a decade ago, when cell
phones were more similar to a brick than they are to a modern day cell phone.
It kind of becomes a common sense issue after a while. Schools try to rearrange their budgets every year to
make room for new resources. Computers, calculators, and books are all factory apps on a cell phone now days. Not to
mention the various agendas, notepads, calendars, and other functions applicable to school that can be very helpful. A
lot of schools have a strict no-tolerance policy on cell phones. Most schools confiscate them because they’re distracting
students from working. The irony, right? That’s kind of like confiscating a lighter so the camper can make a fire with
sticks. It’s traditional, but it’s not as efficient as a lighter.
Personally, I feel the worst part about the restrictions that schools have on cell phones in school is the fact that,
with the help of educators, students could accomplish so much more with a cell phone than what’s already possible!
Imagine the apps that would spring up for educational purposes. Microsoft Office programs, graphing and scientific
calculators, social networks for study groups, digital textbooks and more! 75% of teens in America own a smart phone.
Why not use this to our advantage? 75% of teens in America have one of the most powerful tools for education at their
disposal, but what are they doing with it? Tweeting and shooting angry birds everywhere. When Ben Franklin discovered
electricity, the world’s greatest inventors didn’t call it shiny and continue living in the dark, they used it to make every
day life easier. Why can’t we do the same now?
It’s not 1999 anymore. According to Moore’s Law, our knowledge of technology doubles approximately every 13
years and it hasn’t been wrong yet. If we could all just step out of the box and try something new, who knows what
direction we’ll go in? Maybe the traditional methods need some tweaking.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore's_law
http://www.syracuse.com/kirst/index.ssf/2010/09/75_percent_of_us_teens_have_ce.html
http://www.ehow.com/about_6522661_cell-phones-educational-tool.html
http://www.ehow.com/list_6733767_laws-regarding-cell-phones-schools.html