Ben Johnson
Published: Tuesday, September 9, 2008
First day of class, everyone knows what it’s like in one way or another and knows what to expect. You find your classroom and pick a seat to spend the next 16 weeks of your life listening to a very inspirational teacher lecture on a subject that will probably never apply to every day life.
Listening very intently, you jot down a few notes when all of the sudden, a cell phone goes off! The most common sound is the “vibration” setting, which students don’t realize how loud it really is until the entire room is quiet. The rest of the tones vary of course from generic presets to personal downloads from your favorite band. But one thing is certain, once your phone goes off in class, the heat is on you.
Now most teachers will tell you up front about their policy on cell phones in class, which is pretty simple and common in most classes… turn it off. In most work places, if you are caught using your cell phone when you should be working your manager can confiscate it until the end of your shift.
It’s one thing when you forgot to turn it off one time, but when you are the one who does nothing except text and constantly receive calls during class you are not only wasting your time, you are also wasting your teacher’s and fellow classmates’ time.
So we have a problem here… but the solution is so simple I shouldn’t have to write a whole article about it but it appears to be necessary. Turn off your phones before going into class. If you have an emergency, inform your teacher of the situation and set your phone to “silent mode” where you depend on a blinking light to let you know when a call is coming in and quietly dismiss yourself from the classroom. Other than that, you should not need your cell phone in class so you might as well turn it off. You will save battery power, minutes and a little embarrassment. Thank You.