Ending Mobile (Cell) Phone Abuse in Class

I belong to various listservs and read news and views about challenges educators face when trying to maintain student focus on the learning going on in the lab, classroom, or field. One of the newest, perhaps most prevalent distractions is the mobile (cell) phone. Students act as they are almost addicted to them by checking every second for a new message or reason to call someone for the most mindless of reasons. This includes the time spent in our classrooms.

I have read all kinds of ways to deter the use of phones in the class ranging from harsh tactics like confiscating the phone and not giving it back (wrong idea of course) or throwing a kid out of class. There are other less harsh measures such as stopping the class which also has its pro's and con's.

I have come up with a very simple, easy, straightforward way to resolve the mobile phone distraction in my three classes this semester. The first thing is that just before I begin my classes I take out my mobile phone and hold it up and say, "Okay time for us all to turn our phones off and put away until end of class." This has worked remarkably well to the point that I have not had to invoke the policy in the syllabus that simply states that those caught tending to their phones when classs is in session will have 50 points subtracted from their grade. So with no hoopla, fanfare, or angst on my part this simple approach to getting the mobile phone distraction out of my classes has worked better than expected. Give it a try. If you also have a tip of your own for handling mobile phone distractions let me know and I will post it on the blog.