The Dialogue Question:
Should professors ban cell phones in their classrooms?

When I was asked whether professors should ban the use of cell phones in their classrooms, my immediate and straightforward response was “Absolutely!”

The time you are in class, is the time you have committed to learning. There is not much more to say. Class time is class time. This implies that you are not available for anything else. Your attention should be completely on the subject at hand.

Telephone communications within the learning environment can be a serious distraction to all parties involved. Ringing or buzzing phones or hurried, muffled, one-sided conversations may interrupt the learning environment or cause students to be drawn away from what the professor is teaching. Cell phones also distract professors and may cause them—not to mention the other students in the class—to get off track or lose concentration.

The instructor has the right to determine what is tolerable in her or his classroom. This is part of the authority one has as a professor. While in the classroom, students and teachers should both realize that this is the time for learning and not the time for outside or personal communications.

Occasionally, a student may have a legitimate reason for bringing a cell phone to class. Allowances for special circumstances or emergencies should be made on a case-by-case basis.

To avoid confusion, I suggest that this policy be included on the course syllabus or announced in class. The announcement could also include the protocol for handling special circumstances, if there are any. This will prevent confusion and preempt cell phone usage in the classroom.

* Phyllis Hall is a counselor for Student Support Services at Long Beach City College in Southern California. She also serves as a counselor in a program to improve access and retention of low-income and educationally disadvantaged students.

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No, banning cell phones is unduly restrictive and unnecessary.
Michael Kupilik *

Fifteen minutes into your class and just as you are about to make your first central point, a cell phone rings. The student grabs for the phone, located somewhere in her backpack, shuts off the ringer, stands up, stumbles over seven students getting to the aisle and exits the classroom.

You recover, refocus the class, and just as you are finally back to making your point, another cell phone rings. This is unacceptable! So, for many faculty, there is an easy solution: Ban the irritating things!

A ban is certainly a possible solution. I have a colleague who announces to the class that there will be a pop quiz whenever the second cell phone rings. However, I believe that these types of policies are unnecessary and unduly restrictive. There are circumstances when students might need to leave their cell phones turned on. Possible situations include: an expectant father whose wife is due at anytime; a firefighter who is taking the class while on call; a student with a sick family member; and there are other legitimate reasons.

The policy that I find useful is not to ban cell phones, but to set procedures for their use. The policy is quite simple.

I request that all cell phones be turned off during class unless there are compelling reasons not to do so. If a student must keep the phone turned on and is likely to have to leave class suddenly, I ask to be informed of this prior to the beginning of the class. I ask the student if possible to turn the ringer off and set the phone to vibrate. I also ask the student to sit next to the door to be able to leave unobtrusively, if necessary. That’s it. This policy works well and eliminates the need for a ban.

*Michael Kupilik has been on the faculty of the Department of Economics at the University of Montana since 1976. He is president of the university’s faculty union and on the Board of Directors of MEA-MFT, the NEA-AFT merged state Association.