Phone Policies Beyond the Classroom
If the terms Facebook, Twitter or texting immediately make you want to grab your phone and check for notifications, then you aren’t alone. Cellular devices provide great opportunities for networking and learning about other cultures. But they also cause a massive problem: a disconnect from the people around us. Phones have essentially become a third appendage for many people. So how do we ditch the digital world and return to reality?
Professor of marketing and business management Dr. Christina McCurley starts in the classroom. Upon entering, students have to place their phones at the front of the class. Out of everything else she’s tried, McCurley believes this is the most effective way to keep students off their phones. However, sophomore biology major Laurel Petri thinks a different method would be better. “A lot of people get nervous leaving their phone up on desk because there’s been instances where someone will grab someone else’s phone without looking, thinking that’s their phone,” she said. Biology and chemistry professor Dr. David Reid allows his students to utilize their phones for class such as searching certain vocabulary terms. Based on her experiences in both classrooms, Petri thinks Reid has the best approach. “When we have to Google stuff, it allows us to use our own resources,” she said.
While looking at the phone as a tool may encourage students to use phones to enhance their learning experience, McCurley has the right idea. Having the phone right in front of you may make it too difficult to focus. With every notification, we dive further into our digital lives and miss the learning opportunities right in front of us. Petri’s concern about stealing phones is understandable but how often does this actually occur? As college students, our education should be more important than a technological device- especially when so much money is coming out of our pockets. In addition, if we are making it a habit to be distracted in class, then imagine what we look like outside of class.
We are buried in our phones. It doesn’t matter if we’re with or without friends and it’s not just college students. There are middle-aged adults wrapped up in “Candy Crush Saga” or perpetually answering emails and text messages. This problem is bigger than just getting students off them in class. It extends to family gatherings and date nights. It’s all ages. It’s all the time. We need to recognize that we have a problem and it needs to be fixed. Maybe phone policies don’t just belong in the classroom. Junior communications major Robert Fagg found a solution that works for his family.
When Fagg’s family goes out to dinner, sometimes they will put their phones in the center of the table. The first person to grab their phone has to pay for dinner. He said it tests their ability to disconnect from the digital realm and be present. However, if there are extraneous circumstances such as an emergency with another family member, then they are allowed to use their phones. “Even at home my parents don’t want me and my sister on our phones or on our iPods during dinner just so it’s ‘dinner time with the family,’” he said. The policy was implemented about four years ago when Fagg started dating. He started sending around 13,000 texts per month. That’s approximately 433 text messages per day. He said, “So my mom was cutting me off and we saw a significant cut back from the 12 to 13,000 to 7,000.”
Overall, having advanced technology is not a bad thing. Being able to receive information at the click of a button is amazing. The problem is when technology takes over and prevents real interaction. It may be time for everyone to start implementing their own phone policy.