Teachers Should Trust Teens, Not Control Them

A lot of students use cell phones and iPods during class time; this is inevitable in a school as large as Berkeley High School. The current policy allows teachers to take away a phone if they see it or hear it, and send them to On Campus Intervention (OCI) if the problem gets out of hand. Some teachers choose to use this, and some prefer their own methods of discipline, or none at all. The question I want to ask is: Are we looking at this from the right angle?

In high school, trust is a major issue. Should teachers trust students not to cheat, or do they have to enforce the rule with punishments? Do students trust each other enough to work in groups, or will they do extra work just in case? The case of cell phone and iPod use in the classroom is an issue of trust. Do teachers trust students to use them responsibly, or do they have to add extra boundaries such as confiscation and OCI because they don’t?

Although, of course, the rule against technology in class aims for a distraction–free environment, but is it the right thing in the long run? As soon as students graduate high school, will they be much more addicted to technology because it wasn’t allowed in high school? The use of these technologies is made more valuable by its restriction. This is the case with other high school temptations such as drugs and alcohol, which are made much more exciting by the fact that they are illegal. Maybe if cell phones and iPods were not such a taboo in class, students wouldn’t be as inclined to use them.

Also important to note is the fact that the more trust that is instilled in a teenager, the more responsible they get. I know this because I’m a teenager, and I’ve had my fair share of arguments about trust with my parents. In the end, the best way to learn is to fail, so why not let us fail? Why don’t teachers just let us use our phones in class and learn for ourselves that it is harder to do well in a class that way? This is how it is beyond high school, and that’s when all the things we learn here pay off. Technology use is getting way out of control with teenagers, and I think the best way to shake up that reality is to let them learn its flaws on their own, not by taking it away and getting them in trouble.

I’m not suggesting that we allow students to have their phone out during a test, or a lecture, or that they can get away with being a distraction to the people around them. I’m only suggesting that the attitude towards all of this changes, and maybe during some free time a student can take out their iPod and listen to some music. A lot of adults don’t really like technology; they say it corrupts the youth. But it’s not going to go away, so isn’t the best thing to learn to live in harmony with it?

Students need to be trusted. If other people believe in us, we have no reason not to believe in ourselves. We need to learn to focus ourselves now, or we never will. The rules surrounding cell phone and iPod usage during class should be relaxed, and it will be better for everybody. Students will learn crucial lessons about self–control, and teachers won’t have to be so strict and lose favor with their students.

Photos:

• Technology in Class (Liam Klaidman-Rinat)