Should students be allowed to have cellphones in school?
Body Paragraph one:
Introductory Paragraph:
Thesis:  Cell phones can be a great resource in our daily lives, but they should be restricted from use in a learning environment, reminding us that education is first priority.
Topic Sentence:  Cheating in school is becoming more common where students are using their phones to take pictures of the exams, store information on their phones, text other students and many other deceitful ways.
Support: Students in high school are most likely cheating because they are earning bad grades and they take advantage of their phones to do so.
Evidence 1:  On February, 18, 2014, “More than 200 students were expelled after being caught cheating in the Grade 12 board exam in the past three days.Nearly a dozen parents who helped them use unfair means were also arrested”, an official said on Tuesday. (The Press Trust of India)
Elaboration 1:  This real life event shows us how extreme the consequences can get over a cellphone. Not only did the students get expelled, but a dozen of their parents were also arrested. Teachers are trying to figure out a way to terminate cheating, but instead, they need to eliminate the source, being cell phones.
Support:  Majority of students in the school have cell phones and more than half of have used a cell phone to cheat
Evidence 2: According to a study from the Josephson Institute of Ethics. Among current high school students, 75 percent admit to cheating on tests, homework, and other assignments. Fifty percent have cheated on exams during the past year, and 34 percent have cheated on more than one test. (The Child Study Center)
Elaboration 2: It is just unbelievable how many students cheat, it might give them the marks they wanted but what’s the point when you are feeling the guilt 24/7. Students are given cellphones by their parents and surely the reason is not so they can use it to cheat.
Support: Cheating is like a drug, the more you do it and get away with it the more you want to do it.
Evidence 3: “It’s tempting to cheat” said Kids Health (Kids Health). Believe it or not but some students actually think that cheating is perfectly ok, but once someone starts to cheat and feel comfortable doing so it can easily become a bad habit. Cheating is not a habit you want to carry on into college/university, if you are caught cheating there you will be expelled on the spot.
Elaboration 3: In the long run when you end up in college or university, you need to realize that the staff there doesn’t tolerate these foolish acts. If someone is caught cheating in university or college it will result in expulsion making it highly unlikely to get into another university/college, possibly ruining your future.
Concluding Sentence: Cheating can become a very bad habit, but by removing cellphones students won’t have the ability to cheat as they use cellphones to do so. Cheating’s dangerous and can potentially ruin ones future and by removing cellphones we are saving their future.
Transition: Distractions in classes are yet another negative aspect on cellphones that can negatively affect a student’s grade.
Body Paragraph Two:
Topic Sentence (Claim 2): Students are supposed to be coming to school for education but when they are allowed to have cellphones with them it creates an unwanted distraction as they are tempted to play games, surf the web and mainly text friends and/or family. If students are being distracted on their phones in the class they simply aren’t learning.
Support: Distractions in class are similar to distractions on the road, when you have a cell phone on the road your full attention isn’t on the road as in school your full attention isn’t in the class.
Evidence 1: Most teachers want students to achieve high marks in their classes but it’s not possible when they are contradicting themselves by allowing cell phones in school/classrooms. When teachers are giving the students lectures or teaching an important lesson it is very easy to lose focus with a cell phone right by your side.
Elaboration 1: It’s difficult to achieve high grades with cellphones. Cell phones are being a constant distraction all the time and if schools banned cell phones every student would be getting higher grades rather than before when they had a cellphone.
Support: Cell phones are acting as students best friends as they spend most all their time on their phones than pay attention in class.
Evidence 2: Mobile technology consultant Tomi Ahonen analysed a study commissioned by Nokia. They found that in users aged 13 – 18 check their smartphones almost 150 times a day. Students also spend a lot of their time in school checking social media websites where they chat with friends and play games. (Spencer)
Elaboration 2: Education is first priority, especially when in school. If the average student is receive 150 texts a day that means they are texting at least some of that in school. When students are texting in school or chatting on social media websites it makes it very hard for them to focus in class, especially when they are playing games, it causes other students sitting around the person on the phone to watch him/her also distracting other classmates.
Support: Students wish to achieve high grades but with a cell phone many are tempted to check it every few minutes distracting them from the class.
Evidence 3: Health and human services researchers at Kent State University, in Ohio, surveyed about 500 undergraduate majors across a range of majors. One of their findings was that students with more cell phones had lower grade averages. (Berger)
Elaboration 3: Almost every student has a cell phone and they are all constantly on it. If students have lower grade averages because they have cell phones it means they are on it in school during classes causing a distraction to themselves, therefore providing them with lower grades which is not beneficial to anyone.
Concluding Sentence: Excluding cell phones from school will help students’ marks by allowing them to pay attention resulting in good grades.
Transition: Distraction isn’t the only con about cellphones. Cyber Bullying is a major worldwide issue contributed by cellphones as well.
Body Paragraph Three:
Topic Sentence (Claim 3): Cyber Bullying has become a well-known, widespread teen issue around the world. Billions of people are active on social websites and are texting each month allowing students to contact each other from anywhere. When students have cell phones in school they can send anything they want to anyone they want with a touch of a button.
Support: Cell phones are great tools but when put in the wrong hand they can help assist in breaking down a student to tears.
Evidence 1: According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the U.S Health Department roughly 85 percent of teens are bullied in school and 25 percent of those teens are repeatedly bullied using cellphones. 50 percent are too shy to talk about it. (U.S Health Department)
Elaboration 1: Bullying is a very serious issue and by allowing cell phones in schools, teachers are also “allowing” bullying to occur. If cell phones were not allowed in school it would help over 50 percent of bullied teens to be safe from cyber bullies.
Support: Cell phones are so strong that they can be used to bully someone to the extent where the person cannot take it anymore.
Evidence 2: On October 12, 2012 occurred a very sad and devastating incident where a Grade 10 student named Amanda Todd committed suicide. It started off when a stranger met her online convincing her to strip. Later on Amanda switched schools and found out he had created a Facebook account with the profile picture of her bare breasts. She then tried to kill herself by drinking bleach. Students at her school would bully her and she couldn’t take it anymore resulting in her death. (Canadian Press)
Elaboration 2: Amanda had a happy life until she met someone online and started receiving threats from students on her phone at school. In the end she took her life. Cell phones were used by harassing Amanda and threatening her during school. If cell phones were not allowed at school it just might have saved her life.
Support: Sadly many people around the word end up changing schools and unintentionally ending relationships with friends due to cell phones accompanying bullying.
Evidence 3: Ashley was yet another young girl enjoying school when unknowingly one of her friends started to take pictures of her using her cell phone. The images were then part of a fake profile on a social media website of Ashley with her private information. Ashley later found out about the profile. The girl had full control of Ashley’s “profile” and Ashley couldn’t do anything about it. Ashley was later on forced to switch schools.
Elaboration 3: Cell phones can be very powerful tools and in Ashley’s case very dangerous ones. If cell phones were banned at schools the girl could never have taken a picture of Ashley.
Restated Thesis: Cell phones should not be part of the learning environment as they bring harm to the school and the students. Students take advantage of their phones in negative ways such as cheating on tests, bullying others and it just creates a distraction in class affecting their grades.
Works Cited
.More than 200 Students Caught Cheating in Bihar. Press Trust of India. N.p., 14 January 2014. Web. 22 Feb 2014. <http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/more-than-200-students-caught-cheating-in-bihar-says-official-485075 >.
“The Child Study Center.”Cheating in School, How it happens. Josephine Institute. N.p., 21 August 2011. Web. 22 Feb 2014. <http://www.aboutourkids.org/articles/cheating_in_school_why_it_happens_how_prevent_it>.
U.S Health Department,, Bureau of Justice Statistics, and Cyberbullying Research Center. “Cyber/Bullying Statistics.” .N.p., 5 July 2013. Web. 23 Feb 2014. <http://www.statisticbrain.com/cyber-bullying-statistics/>.
Spencer, Ben.Mobile users can’t leave their phones without checking it for 6 minutes. N.p., 11 February 2013. Web. 23 Feb 2014. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2276752/Mobile-users-leave-phone-minutes-check-150-times-day.html>.
Berger, Eric.Students who use cellphones more get lower grades. N.p., 16 Dec 2013. Web. 23 Feb 2014. <http://blog.chron.com/sciguy/2013/12/study-students-who-use-cellphones-more-get-lower-grades/>.
Canadian Press. Amanda Todd commits suicide N.p., 12 October 2012. Web. 22 Feb 2014. <http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/10/12/amanda-todd-suicide-2012/>.
Kids Health. “Cheating.”. N.p. Web. 24 Feb 2014. <http://kidshealth.org/kid/feeling/school/cheating.html>