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Mobile phones have changed the way we communicate, but people disagree on whether the devices are useful tools for education. Unfortunately, students can be easily distracted by their phones during class.

Are they listening to the teacher or texting their friends? Are they taking a picture of a quiz to cheat? Maybe they are playing a game, or watching a video, instead of paying attention. School officials, teachers and parents all are trying to find out the best way to supervise students’ use of mobile or cellphones.

In the Canadian province of Ontario, officials are restricting phone use during teaching time. However, there are exceptions for classroom activities, health and other emergencies.

Recently a new law came out for public schools where banning mobile phones is not completely required. The law asks school districts, schools and education offices to develop cellphone policies to prevent, or limit students’ use of the devices at school.

One high school, in California’s Silicon Valley area, had a serious problem with students and their cellphones. Joanne Sablich, a French teacher, said students using their phones in class had been a real problem. They were “checking their phones and texting-- going on social media,” she said, and she would have to take the phone “over and over and over."

What some schools want to do is provide a clean break for students and not have the frenetic energy that can happen if kids start texting each other or social-media posts start going. This means perhaps simply banning cellphones within the classroom. That way students will feel less anxious because they are not so attached to their devices.

We must realize that students have grown up with cellphones, so we need to teach them proper use for tools within the classroom. Schools are teaching about cellphones and how to use them with social media and the Internet. We need to teach students to use their mobile phones responsibly. Technology is here, schools should use it to help students, and not fear it.

Adapted from: https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/should-schools-ban-mobile-phones-/5273391.html