T hink back to high school. What followed was social maintenance galore. This was your opportunity to chat with your friends about the weekend activities, brown nose the teacher or attempt to have a conversation with your crush. Of course, this is one of the primary functions of school as an institution.
In addition to educating the youth, school is an essential part of socializing young people as it is one of the first institutions outside the family many children find themselves in. Now, I am back in a high school but this time it is as a student teacher.
I am getting to see high school from a totally different perspective. Some things are exactly as I remembered, yet there are aspects that are totally different. What I was expecting when I said this was the chatter that I had fond memories of. And what is the cause of this silence? The thing that you likely have on your person or in your hand right now: cell phones. Every student in my class bent their heads to use their phone; two-thirds of the class put headphones in; and a few relocated to tether themselves to an outlet.
I would contest that cell phone addiction is a very present part of our reality, and many of my students suffer from it. However, this is not to say that this is a problem that only exists in younger generations. A distracted driving bill is likely to make its way on the floor of the state legislature within the next two months. Cell phones, and more specifically smartphones, have completely altered the way we live our lives.
In more ways than one this technology has opened us up to a world of benefits. As they say, the world has gotten smaller. It is now possible to stay in contact with friends abroad, interview with international companies and even Tweet from the toilet.
