Cell phones should be allowed in lunches and study halls

It would be reasonable to say that, at one time or another, most students have secretly texted during class when their teacher was not looking. There are many different techniques used by students to hide their cell phones while texting and we have all seen them in action. But not all of these students are texting to discover the latest gossip. Some are texting a family member to tell them their basketball game got cancelled, or to tell them they are staying after to make up a test, or they could even be receiving a text informing them that a family member can not pick them up and they should take the bus home. All of these are legitimate and very important reasons to get in touch with family members. Of course texting during class is not beneficial to these students or to their classmates who can be distracted by it. But if students were allowed to use their cell phones during study halls and lunch periods, they would not feel the need to sneakily text, just beyond the watchful eyes of their teacher, from behind their Biology textbook. Students should be allowed to use their cell phones during lunches and study halls as it is not distracting them from the learning process.

During lunch today I realized I had forgotten that I had arranged to play tennis with a friend after school. I had forgotten my tennis racquet and sneakers at home. I quickly sent a text to my Mom to ask her if she could put my tennis racquet and sneakers in my car using a spare key. I looked up to meet an unpleasant stare coming from one of the teachers roaming the cafeteria. She signaled me to put the phone away. So I did, end-of-story. But by texting during lunch I was not disrupting a class or distracting any other students. Lunches and study halls are free periods. These periods are given to students so they can have a break from the stresses of school and socialize while eating their lunch. The use of a cell phone would not be harming anyone during free periods like these.

The main reason the administration has decided against lifting the cell phone rules during lunches and study halls is because they are afraid they will text students who are currently in class. This is logical and there is no way of completely preventing it from happening. But we are high school students preparing for college and adulthood. I think we should be trusted to make responsible decisions. If someone in lunch texts a student currently in class, they are not only disrupting this students learning, but they put them at risk for having their cell phone taken away. Knowing this, I think a lot of students would hold off on texting their friend who is in class.

In college, the students are usually allowed to text during class. Many of the professors feel that if a student wants to distract themselves by texting and miss out on important topics being covered in class, let them. The student is attending college using either their parent’s or their own personal money. If they want to waste it, they have the right. I think we should be allowed to make responsibility-related decisions like these while in high school to prepare for college If, as high school students, we do not make the right decision we will pay the price just as we would in college. . I do not think cell phones should be allowed in class but during free periods, like lunch and study hall, they should be allowed.

Being allowed to use cell phones in study halls and lunches would relieve students from a, sometimes agitating, strict environment in the classroom. There are so many rules in high school. No cell phones, No iPods, ID’s should be worn at all times, no hats, no wearing certain clothing, no myspace/ facebook/ games in the computer lab, the list goes on. Yes, I believe all of these rules should be imposed on students when they are in class. But I think cell phone use should not be prohibited during enrichment-type periods like lunch or study hall. This would also relieve the teachers who have been assigned to the dreaded lunch duty from watching the students like hawks. It would also relieve the teachers who have been assigned to a study hall from this same tedious chore. Students should be allowed to use their cell phones during lunches and study halls as it is not distracting them from the learning process.