Mears: SHSU 'no cell phone policy' benefits student learning

Students have all seen the big bolded sentence in the countless syllabi that they have received throughout their journey at Sam Houston: Students are to turn off all mobile phones while in the classroom and phone use during class is prohibited.

After spending all summer texting and spending time on social media accounts on their phones, many students are hesitant to put their phones away.

I spoke with students from other surrounding schools in Texas and many believe that they are being treated like children and that the no phone rule is impeding on their rights as adults, believing that they are able to correctly judge when it is right and wrong to use their phone during class.

Others feel as if the rule is a good thing, keeping students from using their phones to cheat.

One student, Tyler Arnold from Angelina College in Lufkin, Texas, stated that “students would play on their phones instead of listening to the lectures in class, so what is the point of paying all this money for a class that they are just going to waste their time playing on their phone in?”

Another student, Brittany Fajkus, a current student here at SHSU, believes the rule is a good rule because, “out of respect, people should not be playing on their phones during a lecture or when a professor is speaking to them.”

According to a recent study published in the journal Communication Education, college students who frequently text during class have difficulty staying attentive to classroom lectures and don’t learn class objectives.

Personally, I feel as if the no cell phone in class rule is a great thing at SHSU. I like the rule because I feel like if I am going to pay so much money for one class, then I should pay attention and so should other students. Why waste your money and a good education just to play or text on your cell phone?