I taught English in Hartford High School from 1987 to 2012.
Unbeknown to administrators who disapproved of cell phone use in class but left the matter up to individual teachers, I made a deal with my 11th graders, who were constantly sneaking a look at text messages (“Why cell phone bans are a bad idea”; .
Here was the deal: You give me 40 minutes of work without cell phones and I will give you a seven-minute break during which you can use your phone out in the open during traditional rest room break.
In a 94-minute “block” period that meant teacher extracted two 40 minute chunks of concentrated work out of the kids and the kids got two seven-minute phone breaks.
As an English teacher I approve of two things cell phones teach kids.
1. Proofreading. If they don’t type the email address precisely into “my contacts,” the email will never be delivered.
2. Discovery. The entire encyclopedia Britannica cannot compete with Google or other Internet search engines for finding information that is constantly updated.
Sure there are negatives to cell phone use; it can be an addictive toy (consider Tik Tok). In 1958, television was going to be addictive and the Mickey Mouse Club TV show was going to rot my brain, according to adults.
Paul Keane