3, 339

3, 339- The number of texts on average a teen sends in one month, according to the Nielsen Company, a consumer research firm. This amounts to more than six texts per hour.  Students are obviously staying connected to their friends throughout the school day.  How do we as educators handle this?  I easily found two different newspaper articles that discussed texting in the classroom and another blog from a teacher. There were reactions on both sides of the argument from educators.

"Chuck Martin, a marketing lecturer at the University of New Hampshire’s Whittemore School of Business and Economics, had one of his classes conduct their own market research survey in which half of the 1,043 students surveyed felt guilty about texting during class when it was not allowed. Nevertheless, this did not stop people from doing it. In fact, 65 percent of the students surveyed said they sent at least one text message during a typical class."

I personally would not allow my students to text during class.  Yes, it only takes a few seconds to send one text but if students are texting repeatedly during class they are going to miss out on instruction.  Jay Mathews an education columnist for The Washington Post brings up an interesting point that if the educator is engaging, the texter should be more interested in the class than sending another text.  I think as educators we are always looking for new ways to engage our students and help them learn.  Of course students are always going to be concerned about what their classmates are doing and saying and want to communicate with them, but can't we keep the texting to in between classes, before school, after school or during lunch. We as educators need to continue to focus on how to keep students engaged during classroom instruction and keep outside distractions to a minimum.

On the other side of the argument Elona Hartjes, Ontario Certified Teacher, states that she doesn't think it is a big deal to text during class and compares it to passing notes.  She feels there are always going to be students who pass notes and students who try and text.  She feels this is the least of her problems in her classroom and chooses not to fight this battle.  This is one way to handle the situation but at the same time it seems like a defeated attitude that I can't do anything about it so why try. 

Where are we headed?

There are educators who have opinons on both sides of the argument.  Personally it seems that we need to focus on keeping students engaged in learning.

Image:  http://www.gizmodiva.com/mobile_phones/texting_can_take_a_toll_on_the_intelligence_of_teens.php