Should cell phones be banned from classrooms?

I tend to agree with Josh Allen on this one. I think that cell phones should not be used in the classroom. Every use that Liz came up with for cell phones in the classroom could be done on the computer. The nice thing about that is that you don’t have to worry about a student using the computer during an inappropriate time in class (it should be pretty obvious, unlike a cell phone).

I think she is missing a major factor when she stated, “There are businesses that are completely mobile, and job interviews that are done via phone. Students need to learn how to use their social devices as a professional tool if they want to be competitive in the future”. First of all, the students that already own the kinds of phones that she is talking about will already know how to use all of the gadgets, so I think they will be fine as long as we teach them the professional skills they will need in the business world. As far as the students that don’t have these types of phones, we cannot require them to purchase them for school because that is obviously unfair and I agree with Josh Allen when he says that, “Any monies spent on phones and plans would be much better served with any number of other technologies.”

Before reading this article, I did not know that buying every student a cell phone was even discussed in schools. I am curious to know how common this is. I would also like to find the best ways to control social cell phone use in my classroom.