You’re sitting in class after a long day at work. All you want to do is make it through this class. You start to leave all the chaos and noise from the day behind and focus in on the lecture.
All of a sudden, the latest ring tone comes blaring out of someone’s pocket. As if the initial distraction were not enough, of course they have to answer.
“Hello … I’m in class. I said I’m in class. I can’t talk right now!”
Scenes like this one are happening more frequently in schools all around the country. No one can pass on campus without hearing a phone ring in class or overhearing someone else’s personal conversation.
Many argue that having a cell phone has become a necessity. The ability to contact your loved ones in a time of crisis provides extra comfort and security. I couldn’t agree more.
Yet, let us be realistic and say that most of the calls received are not emergencies, nor are they important enough to interrupt a class. The problem is not that students carry their cell phones in school. The problem is that the majority of students practice little cell phone etiquette when in school.
Turning off the cell phone for a few hours can’t hurt. It is well known that people like to be accessible, but sometimes a little silence is greatly appreciated. Having that distraction is not just outright irritating, but it is also disrespectful to those who are trying to get through a lecture without hearing a personalized ring tone every five minutes.
In our school, students have conversations while sitting directly in front of signs which clearly prohibit cell phone use. When a cell phone disrupts a class, professors usually continue with their lectures as if nothing happened. It has become so commonplace in everyday life that most people just deal with it.
Unfortunately, it seems that very little can be done to stop these practitioners of bad manners. In fact, things will only get worse.
In a school computer lab, the cell phone of a student sitting nearby rings at full volume. Of course, since it is most likely (not) an emergency, he has to pick it up. When asked if he could keep his voice down, he gets annoyed and says “No!” Apparently, trying to sit in silence doing a paper must have been pretty distracting to his conversation.