One of the biggest distractions within a high school classroom is a cell phone. Many students tend to be on their phone instead of participating in class or pay- ing attention to a lesson. Furthermore, students use their phones to listen to music in class, attempting to hide their headphones in their hood or sleeve. Not only are cellphones a distraction for students who are using them to text or play games, but they can also be distracting for others within the classroom.

Some teachers have begun to make students put their phone in a zippered compartment in their backpack, or in a ‘phone home’ at the front of the room. Although this helps solve the problem of phone use, it is only a temporary solution. Students can still see any notifications that pop up on their home screen or take their phone out of their backpacks during class.

Additionally, students can take their phones out of the pockets in the front of the room when they go to the bathroom. This allows students to get distracted outside the classroom which can then impair their focus once they get back into class. The only way to put an end to cell phone distractions in class is to have students keep their phones in their lockers at all times of the day. According to a study done at the University of California, Irvine, it takes an average of about 25 minutes to return to an original task after an interruption.

In today’s culture, cellular devices, particularly cell phones, allow for distractions to be a constant challenge. For a Schreiber student, whose class periods are only 60 minutes long, checking a cell phone only once during class can limit their ability to focus and retain the information being taught. While it is unfortunate, many if not most students struggle with being too attached to their smartphones. An important piece in cutting back on this “cell phone addiction” is to remove the devices from the classroom.

To implement this idea, schools should begin by encouraging kids to leave their phones in their lockers during class periods. The main problem with telling students to put their phones in their lockers is many students do not know their locker combinations or their locker is in an inconvenient part of the school in relation to their schedule. Though this may be true, forcing students to put their phones away pushes them to finally learn their locker information and encourages better time management and responsibility.

Although it seems like a harsh reality, without the complete removal of phones from learning environments, most students will not be able to overcome the temptation to use them.