BBN Times reported in June of 2023 that technology has revolutionized the work place but has had an even greater consequence; the decline in productivity due to distractions and multitasking. It also stated having constant access to technology and social media can divert attention away from important tasks, leading to distraction and long term decreased focus. 

How often do you pick up your phone in class? Don’t lie, we all do it. Just imagine a class with no distractions, meaning no cell-phones or social media notifications. It’s pretty much impossible. 

The increase of phone usage in a school setting and outside of school has increased tremendously in the past few years. Constant use of cellphones and other forms of technology greatly impact work ethic and productivity. Students constantly pulling out phones in class takes away from what they’re actually supposed to be learning and can also just be rude to the teachers who show up for the sole reason of teaching those students. 

Technology and cell phones can be beneficial to learning in schools, but that doesn’t mean they’re necessary. For years people have learned without cell phones in school. While yes, a cell phone has many good aspects, like if a student or teacher is in an emergency or needs to get a hold of someone, but using it as a distraction during class isn’t helping anything.

“I would say the technology changes how we do things, but motivated people or un-motivation hasn’t changed that much,” North Penn High School chemistry teacher, Mr. Christopher King said. “We always have people on each end of that spectrum, so I wouldn’t say technology has changed that.” 

So yes, even before cell phones people would get distracted in class and be unmotivated. But this isn’t just in class that’s a concern, it’s that everybody’s entire lives revolve around cell phones and social media. People are constantly choosing to just stay in over doing something they truly want to do. Cell phones and social media have made our generation, in short, lazy. After asking 41 students if they pulled out their phone in class, it is easy to see that the majority said yes.

Motivation is a big struggle among high school students and a lot of low motivation is contributed to smart phones coming about. High school students have used cell phones in a negative way since they become more of a necessity in life than just something some people have. 

“If by “motivation” you mean willingness to commit long periods of time and thought to uncover and share their ideas, yes. I find students often just want to be told the answer, whether by me or by Google,” North Penn High School teacher Mrs. Colleen Felder stated. “I’ve been teaching since before cell phones existed universally, and since before they were “smart” phones. The level of distraction in the classroom is exponentially worse” 

In the past 2-3 years there has been an increase in the use of AI, like Chat GPT. Students have begun using a resource, which originally was supposed to be used as a helpful “teacher” to students, as a way to cheat on assignments and get out of doing the work for themselves. The way most students have started using Chat GPT is not teaching them anything, causing them to fall behind in school. 

“My concern is that the students are not strong enough writers on their own yet, so they typically aren’t capable of editing and revising the information AI provides,” Felder stated. “They aren’t capable of consistent accurate and solid writing (which is what we are teaching throughout high school), and frankly, the AI generated essays and work I’ve received have been terribly worded and often include inaccuracies.” 

Another thing technology and cell phones are affecting is mental health. With a height of laziness in school and in life, children and adults are struggling worse than before with mental health. With no motivation, low mental health, and laziness going around, cell phones can be rooted back as a big part of the cause. 

“I’ve witnessed not just educational struggles due to access to answers/cheating/summaries of books, but also social-emotional struggles and distractions due to social media and texting.” Felder stated.

Overall cell phones have had a negative affect on students’ learning, and it has greatly increased in the past 5-10 years. AI has been introduced more recently and is also seemingly having a negative impact on learning. Cell phones can be beneficial to learning but have had a negative effect on students and their learning, which can cause future negative impacts. 

 “Of course I hope students will learn and use technology in ways that benefit them and others, but I also wish they were able to step away from personal devices and social communication enough to focus on learning,” Felder stated.