No Cell Phones in Class!

No Phones in Class
Assigned topic
by: Melissa Lanouette

The harbingers of a new age, cell phones have wrought a multitude of changes on the world. News, good or bad, is sent instantaneously. Unless a conscious decision to “turn off” is made, people are never out of reach. Cell phones have developed their own place in our culture, bringing us new vocabulary and etiquette. And no one is immune. Even those who scorn the mechanical umbilical are subjected to its use by those around them.
College students, especially, have fully integrated these increasingly tiny devices into their lives. This current generation was the first to grow up with cell phones, since they were introduced affordably about the time a teenager would get their first taste of phone freedom. When the current students at Salem State got their first cells, the phones were bulky, typically grey or black, and only offering the amenities of chatting unmonitored with friends and playing snake (if one was lucky). Now, however, cell phones can be taught to do any number of things, from playing console video games to listening to MP3s to watching exclusive television programs.

Does the average student really need all this? The answer seems to be resoundingly yes. Many students sport popular new phones, with varying features. Some carry BlackBerries or CrackBerries if you will, so called for their addictive tendency. These phones feature extended keypads, perfect for text messaging, as well as a dizzying array of features such as GPS navigation, e-mailing, and instant messaging via an internet service. A cell-phone camera has become standard, and many contain video captures. PDA phones can synch up to schedule with your home PC and hold lots of information, while still offering similar services to a standard cell phone. Newer models such as the Helio gadgets (don’t call it a phone!) offer access to MySpace and other friend networking websites.

Since almost the entire campus has a cell phone now, the cell phone clause on the syllabus seems to be as important as the special provisions clause. Many self-proclaimed “cell-phone Nazis” fail to follow their own rules however. This semester, in Mr. Levine’s class (names changed to protect the hypocritical), after a long-winded dressing down of whoever had the gall to leave their cell phone on during the class meeting directly following our first cell-phone lecture, the professor was extremely embarrassed to discover that it was his cell phone that had been buzzing for the last 5 minutes. However, student cell phone use is rampant, and does interrupt classes. Despite warnings, many students find themselves unable to leave their cells at home, and many class periods now are punctuated by beeps, buzzes, and obnoxious ring tones.

That younger people aren’t renowned for their courtesy doesn’t help either. Many students may not have been taught that everyone has to finish getting off the bus before you board or that it’s polite to hold the door for anyone, not just cute girls. With cell phone etiquette newly developing, it is hardly surprising that many students seem wholly ignorant of how obnoxious they're being. Many students carry on loud private conversations on their cell phones in awkward places. If your boyfriend thinks you’re cheating on him, the best place to talk about it isn’t the library or cafeteria, where the whole world is privy to your indiscretions. Teachers who ban cell phones from class probably don’t appreciate students text messaging instead of paying attention.

Like many wonders of the electronic age, cell phones have their problems as well as their rewards. TV breeds obesity and the internet breeds stalkers. Cell phones over-connect us to our world, and make it easy to ignore that those people around us can hear us. With cell phones omni-present, roadside call boxes and pay phones are becoming obsolete. Even if you do not have one, you can count on finding someone who will let you borrow his or hers. One of Red Skies’ staff waiting outside Meier for the bus was happy to lend a fellow student his cell phone, suspecting an emergency. However, he fell prey to the dark side of cell phone usage when the girl used the cell phone to call her boyfriend inside, “Honey, I’m right outside where I said I was going to be. Love you, see you in two minutes.”