Despite school rules, students text in class

Cell phones have recently become the most popular and efficient form of communication among adults, teens and even pre-teens as young as 12.  Although this would sound great to the teens and phone companies, there is a down side.  Not only are parents all around the country faced with ridiculous bills every month, but also, as cell phones become accessible among teens, cheating became much easier and talking to someone on the phone has become equivalent to a face-to-face meeting.

Many parents believe that the cell phone is a very crucial means of communication; it serves as a back up in case of emergencies and is extremely convenient.  According to a study done by AT&T in New York and Los Angeles, over 94% of “parents agree that cellular phones are good for teens.”

 It is not a surprise that more teens are getting their first cell phones by the age of 13, and a growing number of teens own high tech cell phones.

“My parents bought me a cell phone because I have a lot of responsibilities, and I need to be places, so it functions as a security back-up, so that if anything happens, I can always call the and tell them.  I can use it any time I want to, but I don’t bring it to school if I’m not staying after school.  Other than that, I communicate with my friends over email, Myspace,  Facebook, Youtube, and even on the phone,” said junior Sahar Jamialahmadi.  

A very popular phone among parents is the Guardian Angel, a phone that allows parents to keep track of where their child is at a specific moment.  As the cell phone becomes more popular, parents view the Guardian Angel as a perfect solution that would allow them to feel safe while at the same time pleasing the demands of their kids.  According to the Guardian Angle website, “the stress and panic associated with losing a small child or teenager can be tremendous, so the Guardian Angel developed the Guardian Angel Tracking System to help alleviate those fears.”  This increasingly popular pre-paid phone is also cheaper than many other high tech phones, retailing at 75 dollars; however, there is a monthly charge of 30 dollars for the on-line tracking system.

Phone makers and carriers that are seeking higher revenues are beginning to target the adolescent consumers.  As the cost of a call per minute continues to decline, so are the charges for unlimited messages and song downloads, all of which are aimed at luring teens and pre-teens.  Checking email on a cell phone has become a common service, as technology keeps up with the rising demand for new features among teens.

“Teens care a lot about all the features that is on their phone. I have a picture phone, and I barley use the phone,” said Jamialahmadi.

In two years, the number of teenage cellular subscribers has grown by nearly 26%, which is about 10 percentage points above the growth rate of customers between the ages of 45 and 54.  Additionally, 47% of teenagers take photos with their mobile device, which is twice the industry average.  Since the underage consumer does not have the most spending power, Samsung has already lowered prices of ‘smart phone’, which now sell for as little as 100 dollars.

“I really like my iPhone.  I didn’t really ask for it, but my dad just gave it to me because he bought one and thought it was great.  I’m not spoiled or anything though, It’s not like I get everything that I want,” said sophomore Devin Randolph. 

Among teens, the most popular use of the cell phone is texting.  Although text messages cost about 10 to 20 cents, many AHS teens, and teens all over the country are using text messages more frequently.  In fact, doctors have diagnosed an illness called “text thumb,” which is a medical problem caused by constant texting.  Short message services, or text messages as they are known in the US, have generated a great amount of revenues for mobile telephone providers.  In 2004, 500 billion text messages were sent, which generated about 50 billion dollars.

“I see a lot of people text messaging during class.  It’s become a regular thing.  Personally, I don’t bring my cell phone to class because I think it is really distracting; however, a growing number of students are not just brining their phones to text their friends.  I don’t notice a lot of people texting to cheat on tests though,” said junior Kyle Mills.

Although AHS has a very conservative take on the issue, by stricttly banning all cell phones during school hours; it seems as though this warning does not serve as incentive for the majority of students that continue to bring and even use their cell phones during class. According to a survey conducted by the A-blast, over 84% of 300 students carry their phone during the school day.

“I text message in a lot of my classes, whenever I get a text message I just text back.  I am not really scared of getting caught or anything but overall, it doesn’t distract me from my class work or anything like that, so I’m fine,” said Randolph.

Teachers have also become more concerned about students text messaging other students during class.

“Although I cannot say that I am 100 percent positive students do not text message during my class, I have never caught anyone using their phone.  Also, I keep a close eye on my students, they should know better,” said World History two teacher John Nemeth.  “Every teacher is different, I believe that a teacher should not really sit down and do something else while there is a class because that gives the students a chance to do other things; the teacher should always be active.”
 As more and more teenagers become immersed in high tech gadgets such as the cell phone, another problem arises.  According to a study conducted in 2001 that studied the behavior of 144 cell-phone users between the age of 16 and 40, teens that use their cell phones consistently, “Often saw little difference between meeting face to face and talking on the phone.”

“Text messaging, as a whole, is not really a problem.  I would say that it is a great thing because it is a good way to deal with other people quickly; it is all about the right time, and there are certain appropriate times when a student should text message,” said Nemeth.

Although having a cell phone enables teens to be more social, it also results in having fewer teens handling serious confrontations face-to-face.  This could prove to be a bigger problem in the future, as technology takes over daily social problems and makes it easier for people to ignore critical confrontations at work or in other facets of life.

“I think that my cell phone is one of the most important things for me.  I can’t go anywhere without it, not just for emergencies but also because there is alot of information that a person needs to keep updated on,” said junior Iyann Mohammed.

There are, surprisingly, a number of students in AHS that do not view their cell phones as a very crucial part of their everyday lives.  In our technology led society, these people would be considered as ‘outcasts’ but they do in fact seem to function normally, and even have a social lives.

“I have a cell phone, but I don’t actually use it that often.  I barely talk to my parents during school, other then when I need them to pick me up, and why should I text my friends during class when I see them all the time during school,” said junior Stephanie Berg.

One cannot forget, that the cell-phone is perhaps one of the most crucial gadgets in the world today, one that even beats the all-famous iPod.  This is not just because of the high tech features they entail, but rather because it is a very efficient way for people from all around the world to communicate with each other.  The cell phone, along with the Internet, can have some negative consequences, but overall, it is a huge leap in technology that is shaping the world and helping to erase poverty and other serious issues, while at the same time allowing people to communicate with their families from all around the world by erasing geographical communication boundaries.