By J.D. EDDY, Editorial Editor
Having your phone in a college classroom, compared to high school, is not as much of a problem than you think.
Now, before you get mad at me for this controversial topic, hear me out. I bring my phone to class just like everyone else, but not so I can distract myself. I listen to music in one ear while listening to the lecture and writing notes.
It is something that helps me focus on what the professor is relaying to us. Sitting there and listening to a lecture is not super entertaining all the time, but I do it anyway. If I don’t, then I will not know what is going on in the class.
Some students they find class, well … boring. It is not because of the professor; it is sitting through an hour lecture, which tends to make people zone out. Then, the bright colors of the phone screen are tempting.
For longer classes, like some that last more than an hour, students need some sort of five-minute break to give students and even the professor time to focus.
Maybe students can check their phones at this time. But I also think pulling out your phone during class is not something serious.
At least, it’s not something that should be punished. Professors should just ask the student to put his phone away for the time being. That will work just fine.
We use our phones as a way to keep communication with people we cannot see physically. It is something that allows us to deal with other things.
For example, I get anxious in big crowds. Music helps me overcome that, especially in the gym or in class. I think other students feel the same way about this topic.
With that said, there are some negative consequences with phones that make them a detriment. I mentioned how bright colors influence how much we look at our phones.
This may sound like a conspiracy theory about how our phone screens take over our life. However, there is a patent I would like for you to research if you get the chance.
The number is US6506148B2. It is the patent for an object that influences humans through the intermittent pulsing of subliminal lighting to create an exciting response.
According to the website for Google patents: “For certain monitors, pulsed electromagnetic fields capable of exciting sensory resonances in nearby subjects may be generated even as the displayed images are pulsed with subliminal intensity.”
This means that, when you look at a screen, it stimulates your mind to make you happy to look at your TV screen. But today, we rely more on our phones. The same technology is used. The patent was approved Jan. 1, 2001.
Its lifetime expectancy was set to end on June 1, 2021. Sure, the patent has run out. But you have to think that the first iPhone was released June 29, 2007, only six years later.
I strayed a little bit away from the point, but I still think that phones are good for the most part. They have their downfalls. They can be distracting, and they separate us from the outside world; they keep us communicating properly in person. Just some things to think about.
Phones can be seen as disrespectful to the professor. If that is the case, then professors should state before the class begins that the students are to keep their phones put away.
Most of us are between the ages of 18 and 22 years old, so taking our phones is out of line. The reason is that we pay to go to school here; we also paid for the phones we have.
We have technology in almost every aspect of our lives, so it makes sense that this would make it easier on all of us. Having phones in class can help make things go much smoother than normal.