The subject of phones. Are they too distracting? Maybe phone pockets are the best decision. But what about friends? Are they considered too distracting? If only teachers and admin could put our social life in a phone pocket. Should teachers make their lessons more engaging and interactive instead of handing us paperwork? Or is it that even in engaging settings we still turn to our phones? Why are we so stuck in this technological world? When did technology run us instead of us running technology? Why is it so addicting to pick up your phone no matter how dry it is, no matter how many Reels and Tik Toks we watch? Or is it the tempting factor of going onto Tik Tok, the tempting factor of talking to your friends with one press of a button, creating a domino effect that also distracts your friend? How many times have we been a distraction to our peers because of our addiction to our phones?
Why We Are Addicted to Our Phones
When we pick up our phones, we get a rush of dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter along with being a hormone. When your brain releases dopamine, you get feelings of entertainment, satisfaction, pleasure, and motivation. Many studies explain that we are so addicted to our phones because of the release of dopamine we get. Getting a notification, social media likes, and of course, the endless entertainment of social platforms all release dopamine, the thing that makes us happy.
We know that picking up our phone will give us a rush of dopamine and the letdown of no longer receiving it makes us continuously pick it up and stay on it. The habit of checking, even opening, the phone comes from the habit of seeking dopamine similar to the adrenaline rush some people crave. However, in this case, we all crave that one drop, that one second of dopamine. So arguing with your parents about how your phone makes you happy isn’t far off, but how far can we go before we become too obsessed with our phones? Has it already happened? Have we grown so addicted to our phones that there is no going back?
The Effects Phones Have in Schools:
Many teachers have policies about phones and airpods, for valid reasons. We do tend to be more distracted by our phones than paying attention to math or APUSH. Why do we need to pay attention when we can go home and look on AI for the right answers? Have we become too dependent on our phones and on AI that we no longer have a brain ourselves? Or is it possible that we are using our brains – why do the work for ourselves when someone else can do it?
There have been studies done on whether or not our phones make us smarter and they don’t. It’s true, we sit on our phones, doing everything besides the work to make ourselves smarter. For example, during a boring class, you are more likely to grab your phone out of your pocket than take notes.
Phones are also decreasing teen (our) mental health. Looking on social media and seeing everything we aren’t, it can put someone in a depressive episode.
We should have the respect or the ability to have our phones because in the real world, the jobs won’t care if we are on our own. We will simply be fired if it is a big deal. Maybe that is something we should learn instead of how to hide our phones or put them away simply because we are too addicted to them. Because phones make us work smarter, not harder.
Asking the Teachers:
Going to the source of the people who want to take away our phones: teachers.
“We remember when we had access to the internet, thinking we can use it for learning. It doesn’t ever happen, it is a distraction 100% and has no benefits,” says Mr Doty who is a chemistry teacher. When asked if there are any ways to prevent us from being on our phones, Doty brought up Maryland. In Maryland, to prevent the use of phones, they use phone pouches. You can wear your phone over your neck, but it is locked in this pouch which the teachers have the key to. They can be opened but only if it is for an emergency. Doty also brought up the fact that some teachers don’t enforce the no-phone rule, causing an “imbalance of expectations” among the school.
However, I wanted to know why teachers think we are so addicted to our phones. Doty said it was a negative cycle – you go on it because you don’t have the skill to talk to people, but being on it takes more of the skill away, then when we get a chance to talk to people, we don’t have that skill, so we go back on our phone.
Tik Tok Ban:
However, that brings up the new ban on Tik Tok. Personally, I believe that this will better us as a whole, not because of who is running it but because of the amount of time that is spent on it. Tik Tok is the main issue and problem in the classroom, the hours to days that we have spent mindlessly scrolling and trying to find entertainment. How is it that we can complain about how school runs our lives while being naive to the fact that phones are also running our lives?
When it comes to the subject of phones, are they the new drug?
