Students talk about cell phone use in class

WGAL wanted to know what it’s really like to be a young person today, so News 8’s Meredith Jorgensen sat down with some middle and high school students to find out what’s important to them.

The theme of all the conversations in this special report is the role that cell phones play in the lives of these teenagers.

Dependency and distraction are the focus of our final episode of our special series, “Calling All Kids.”

Each of the students who spoke to us has a cell phone. They shared how they use it for social media and the general role it plays in their lives in society.

But many will be surprised at how much students are on their phones during the school day.

Jorgensen asked if the phones distract students.

“For me, yes,” Tyra Bookman said.

“My phone doesn’t really distract me. Like, I can leave it face down on my desk and I can, you know, do my math homework or my English homework,” Aminah Williams said.

Just because it’s covered doesn’t mean music isn’t playing. She said she listened throughout the school day.

“Yeah, I have like an earbud in there. Or when I wear my headphones, I have half of them off and the other half on. This way I can still hear the teacher talking to me and explaining the work. “I have to do it,” Aminah said.

Some of the children say that listening to music helps with their schoolwork.

“So I don’t get distracted. When I’m doing my work, I just listen to music because it helps me concentrate and stuff,” Jason Ortiz said.

“I listen to music all day, every day. But for me it can be a distraction sometimes depending on what I’m listening to,” Tyra said.

“I use my headphones a lot. But I have certain classes that say, ‘Okay, take off your headphones. Take off your earbuds. Put your phones away.’ And when they say that, I put my things down,” said Sarai Montavlo.

“Some teachers find that disrespectful and say, ‘Hey, take off your headphones.’ Some kids just don’t think it’s cool,” said Keyannie Ramos.

These teens say some students are more worried about their phones than teachers’ rules.

“It definitely provokes the student a lot because it’s their privacy. It’s his property. And you suppose you stir up that kind of anger so that you just say, ‘Oh no, I’m yours.’ “Teacher. I can tell you that,’” Aminah said.

We’ve talked about schools getting bags where teachers can lock a student’s phone during class.

“It always makes me frustrated – emotionally and stuff. “So I’m going to try to stay calm,” Tyra said.

She explained that it’s less about her attachment to her phone and more about security.

“If you really think about the school shooting, for example, if that were to happen to one of us,” she said.

“At least get in touch with our parents if this is the last time we ever communicate with them,” Jason said.

There are no cell phone pockets at these students’ schools – at least for now. But a new no-device charging policy has led to limits on usage.

“What can I do after school if my phone is broken and something happens? What do I do? Because I find that really dramatic. “How can we not charge our stuff when we need it?” Keyannie said.

Dyz’Zeir Hunter was fairly quiet during the conversation.

“I don’t really use it. I have it in my locker,” he said.

This way he doesn’t have to worry about losing it, dropping it, or having a teacher take it away from him.

“This one time it was picked up and went to the main office where my parents had to pick it up,” he said.

Now he has access when he needs it and his parents are happy.

Sarai’s mother limited her phone access to just three days a week.

“I can still have it. If I take it and spend too much time on it, she gives me a warning, which I think is pretty good for me because on the days I don’t have it, I feel more productive,” she said .

It’s an agreement that may be difficult for many teenagers, but leads to big gains later in life.