Should mobile phones be allowed in the classroom?

Whether or not mobile phones should be used in schools is a question yet to be answered, but the idea of allowing them is slowly moving forward.

Even though cell phones, smartphones and other devices have been around for years, many schools have had many different viewpoints on the matter. Westwood High School allows its students to have and use cell phones during appropriate times.

“During lunchtime we’ve had students using their cell phones and have not seen a problem yet,” Westwood Principal David Boase Principal of Westwood High School said. “But that is new to us, basically, within the last two years. There is not a strict policy other than the fact that if any teacher makes a request that cell phones may not be brought into the room, then the student needs to abide by that request. Otherwise, the cell phone would be taken from the student at that time and be given back at some point.”

While having cell phones could cause a distraction, Boase believes cell phones play a major role in everyday life. He also believes the idea that blocking students from being able to reach their parents would be a poor decision.