Yes

BY ADRIAN, ANTHONY, ARYANNA, AUSTIN, NAIYA, VALENTINA, AND VICTORIA P. 

The question of whether or not phones should be allowed at school is often brought up by teachers and students. The answer is that students should be allowed to bring cell phones to school.  

Phones allow students to stay connected to their family members in case of an emergency during the school day. For instance, if students have to be evacuated, they can easily contact their parents. Additionally, in an emergency, students can call 911. 

Parents can be called by their children if they need to be picked up or they are not feeling well. This can help shy kids who are afraid to talk to other adults or help kids who cannot get to the office in that moment.  

Phones can also be used for research and educational purposes. If the school’s internet shut down, students would still be able to research topics with their phones. Phones can be used to join online activities, search meanings of words, complete assignments, and even attend online class.  

In fact, 58% of students use their phones to complete schoolwork, according to a study done by Pearson. Teachers and parents might not trust students handling their phones, but a solution can be to walk around the classroom to check the phones and give the students rewards if they did not use their phones as distractions or for cheating. 

Phones have so many benefits in the classroom, and students should be able to use them as long as they are not getting distracted or misusing them.

No

BY ELLA, ISABELLA, JAYDEN, NICHOLAS, STEFAN, URIJAH, AND VICTORIA M. 

It seems like everyone has a cell phone these days, but does that cellphone belong at school? Cell phones should not be allowed at school because they are a distraction to the children learning.  

A survey conducted by Harvard University revealed that 80% of students agree that phones were decreasing their ability to learn. Clearly, students feel distracted by the presence of a cell phone in their learning environment, so it is best to eliminate that distraction altogether.  

Cell phones can also lead to cyberbullying. Cell phones give students access to the internet and social media, creating more opportunities to experience cyberbullying.  

Another negative to having cellphones in school is the possibility of cheating. A 2009 report indicates that 35% of students used their phone to cheat.  

Some might say that students can still cheat on the computer, but a cell phone makes it easier to cheat because it can be better hidden and it does not have the same proctoring services that school computers have in place to prevent cheating. Online school already makes it easier to cheat, but allowing cell phones in school would make it worse. 

Cell phones have no place in the learning environment because they are a distraction, they lead to cyberbullying, and they increase the possibility of cheating.