Eyes fidgeting, fingers twitching, jackets wiggling and little buttons clicking. You see it in almost every class. Texting, the not-so secret classroom communication among peers.
Some students say teachers are oblivious.
“[Texting in class] is pretty easy because the teachers don’t pay attention,” Tiffney Butler, freshman, said.
Teachers just have other priorites and tasks.
“I think that teachers have a lot on their mind so trying to keep texting during class under control does not always fall as a priority,” said math teacher Natalie Steutermann.
Texting in class has become the new system of passing notes, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. Some students don’t find texting in class as easy.
“I’m not a good multi-tasker it would be obvious,” said Ashley Bowen, senior.
Some teens carry around more than one cell phone so they don’t have to worry about getting their communications cut off. Students may slip their SIM-cards out of their phone before it is taken and hide it until they reach their locker to slip it into their other phone.
“If I get my phone taken away, I would use my other line to keep in contact with my friends,” said a female sophomore.*
More than 43 percent of teens in the United States who take their cell phones to school say they text in class at least once a day or more, according to the MSNBC website. Teens are getting more creative with their system of texting. Mitch Franklin, junior, said he can text without looking.
The new cell phone policy, which allows students to text during passing period and at lunch, has had positive feedback
“I like it because I can use my phone more,” Butler, said.
Others said they don’t like it.
“It bugs me, because I don’t like walking behind people who are texting,” Bowen, said.
The cell phone policy states that cell phones are turned off in class and only in use in the commons area during lunch and in the commons or the hallways during passing periods.
*The Reporter staff chose to keep the identity anonymous.