As soon as CHS sophomore Lexi Snyder wakes up, she checks her phone.
“I get up in bed and read through everything. Instagram, text messages, Facebook, birthdays, Twitter and Vine,” the sophomore says.
During the day and in classes Snyder frequently uses her phone and has to charge it up to five times a day because of the constant use.
The iPhone was first introduced in 2007, and after seven years and multiple updates, the iPhone continues to be a must-have for teenagers all across the world. Although not everyone is completely obsessed with this device, some teenagers are completely addicted using their iPhones and use it every day in every class.
Some are constantly using their phone due to simple boredom, like CHS junior Sam Downey who admits to using her iPhone in class every period of the day, for about forty minutes in each class. Where most students use their phones more outside of class than when in class, Downey is the opposite.
“[I use my cell phone] probably less than in class,” Downey says. “I’m not as bored.”
Although the junior has had it taken away twice, she says that it doesn’t stop her from continuing to text in class.
For other students, just having their iPhone with them distracts their thoughts.
Senior Alex Metcalfe uses her cell phone in five of her six classes for the whole period. She’s not on the phone texting the whole time, she says, but just having it on her desk makes it difficult to concentrate. When a text pops up or there’s a new Instagram post, it’s hard to look away, according to the CHS senior.
“I have to put my phone away when I study,” Metcalfe says. “It’s hard to stop when it’s there.”
Teachers at CHS have been in a quandary about how to deal with students cell phone use during class. Some teachers, like CHS math teacher Juan Gomez, try to incorporate cell phones into class lessons, while others try to keep cell phones more separated from the learning environment.
“I feel like it’s a losing battle,” CHS English teacher Carli Barnett says.
Although students’ texting in class drives her crazy, Barnett knows that it has become part of society and that at times cell phone use can be beneficial for taking pictures of notes or homework.
“I would definitely say this generation is addicted to cell phones, but then again so am I,” Barnett says.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines addiction as an unusually great interest in something or a need to have something.
“If we didn’t have it, we’d want it,” CHS junior Megan Scannel says. “We are obsessed.”
-Helaine Ridilla
