Today's Lesson Argumentative Analysis

The rivalry between students who believe they should be able to use their cell phones in class and teachers who believe them to be disrespectful has caused a ripple effect that now bleeds through many classrooms roaring its controversial head. And here we are stuck in an ongoing battle seldom won by students. The position that students should not be able to misuse their cell phones in a classroom setting is one held by the author of “Today 's Lesson: Life in the Classroom Before Cellphones” Louise Katz, who believes that “those halcyon days” were over (Katz). Likewise, Zoya Kahn, the author of “Why Cell Phones Do Not Belong In The Classroom” has a similar stance on the topic, Kahn states that “it is in everyone’s interest for instructors to

Although Kahn is convinced that a cell phone ringing in a class will leave the surrounding students “significantly impair[ed],” one might disagree about the level to which other students even notice (197). Be assured, there have been moments during class discussions where phones have gone off and no other student has noticed. Though I agree with much of what Kahn stands for, I am not persuaded that a ringing phone leaves students with such impairment. The average student can decide the amount to which such an event will influence their attention and be able to readjust if the event skewed them off course. While a cell phone in a classroom has the potential to distract one from the material being taught, the lack thereof has helped seen an increase in grade and an increase in extra credit

Of course, the teacher does not have total control over each student, there are means by which an instructor can yield the results she/he is looking for. Although our authors both bring up strong points about the use of cell phones in classrooms, they sometimes overstated the degree to which they are disruptive. The authors also give a good idea as to how the reduction of cell phone use would help classrooms become better learning environments with more respect for instructors and peers and how one’s grades have the possibility of improving once their cell phones have been put away. If purely stating these ideas to students would not help the students use their phones less, then incentives or penalizations can be offered by the instructor to make such a problem