Ringing cellphones are a huge distraction in class. Even if teachers ask students to turn off their phones, students may forget or overtly disobey the teacher's request. Students who answer their phones are an even bigger distraction. The student answering the phone distracts other students, and then the time spent by the teacher disciplining the student presents another distraction. Students may excuse themselves, saying they must use the bathroom, but instead leave to make a phone call. This results in lost class time. Another distraction is students who send text messages during class. They don't pay attention and miss valuable information.
Students can use cellphones to cheat on tests a couple ways. First, they can store answers in the phones, covertly looking up the stored information during tests. Second, they can sneak text messages to friends seeking answers to questions of which they're not sure. Thirdly, students can take pictures of tests and send them to classmates who are set to take the same test later on during the day. Many students are very adept at using their phones and can text without looking, making the policing of phones during test times difficult.
Students may take improper pictures of themselves or others and send the photographs to friends. This can include students taking pictures of others while changing in locker rooms, according to National School Safety and Security Services. Students have also been known to call in bomb threats from cellphones. In the case of an actual bomb threat, the use of cellphones exacerbates the potential for a bomb to detonate. During a time of crises, cellphone networks can become overloaded, making it impossible for school leaders, such as principals and other school leaders, to use their cellphones.
Parents may want to reach students during the day to communicate about changes regarding pick-up times or after-school plans. Conversely, a child may seek a parent's advice regarding a problem that pops up during the day. However, children should learn to make their own decisions without consulting parents, advised Thomas Sherman, a professor of education at Virginia Tech. Sherman also said that making last-minute changes to plans models poor planning habits to students, who should learn how to make and keep a daily schedule.