Do you text during class? I bet you do. But are you texting the “necessary” (like asking your friend if she can meet at your favorite make-your-own-salad place for lunch) or the completely unnecessary (BBMs that say “I am so bored.”)?
Wilkes University did a study where 9 in 10 students admitted to texting during class — alarming administrators and professors as cell phones have become the number one distraction for college students in class.
Of course there are other distractions: computers, daydreaming, combating hangovers, doodling, sleeping, etc. But cell phones are accessible, tempting, very distracting, and it is getting easier and easier for students to text under their desk, making eye contact with the professor and seeming like a model student. Yet so far from.
Professors seem to be getting extremely irritated with the multitude of distractions plaguing their classes. We’re paying thousands of dollars to hear these scholars lecture and we’re texting our roommates wondering what parties we should go to that night. A Syracuse University professor has no problem leaving a class if he finds students are more engaged in their phones than the lecture. And recently a video from Cornell University went viral of a professor in the School of Hotel Administration snapping at a student for yawning. Yawning. Ok, not texting, but a “distraction” to the class nonetheless (at least according to him).
I watched the video and imagined the absolute horror I would have felt if I was in that auditorium. My first thought was that yawning is completely harmless. Good for that student for crawling out of bed and getting to class. It’s not like they were texting with their ringer on. But after reading this article about the popularity of texting through class, I wondered if the professor’s outburst was just representative of his annoyance at all the different things taking away from his lecture.
But what can anyone do to get students to stop texting? In the Wilkes study, 62% of students polled believed that they should be allowed to text during class as long as they aren’t distracting others around them. I’m not really sure how the kid next to me texting his friend distracts me, but okay…
What do you think about texting during class? Do you do it? Do you think professors should enforce rules about texting during class? Do you think it is up to you to decide if you want to pay attention to the lecture or not? Weigh in below! We want to hear your opinion!