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The Effects of Cellphone Use on High School Students

Name: Ziyad Alsenaidi

The Effects of Cellphone Use on High School Students

Numerous researchers currently attest to the pervasiveness of cellphone technology and there is also an increased focus on students who are also currently affected by cellphone use. According to Lee (2017) cellphones are increasingly becoming an inevitable part of the classroom. Another study conducted by Felisoni and Godoi (2018) found that there is a high correlation between cellphone usage and students’ academic performance. For instance, the study found a negative correlation between cellphone usage and college GPA. These research outcomes suggest the over-emphasized nature of the effects of cellphones on students which include reduced ability to focus, poor self-worth, and retention of information.

The use of cellphones in the classroom has adverse implications on students’ capacity to focus on learning. A study conducted by Mendoza (2018) investigated the impact of cellphones during a lecture and found that cellphones cause distractions to students as compared to when they do not use cellphones. The study also realized that distracted participants performed poorly when quizzed due to their impaired attention during learning. Cellphone use is also linked to low self-worth among students a situation that also affects their academic performance. Cellphone usage does not directly impact self-worth. However, researchers show that as an indispensable communication device, that when students spend longer time on their phones, they are likely to feel stressed with subsequent predicted self-esteem issues. Excessive cellphone engagement can significantly contribute to dependence which may also negatively impact people’s psychosocial states.

The use of cellphones can also negatively interfere with the retention of information among students, a situation that negatively impacts their academics. Psychologists have increasingly suggested that increased stress which is attributed to cellphone usage can adversely affect memory. This means that increased use of cellphones can affect students’ ability to retain useful information. The main reason why cellphone use affects information retention is that it causes distractions which make it difficult for memory to form. Also, the fact that cellphone use disrupts sleep patterns which prevent the brain from engaging in synaptic pruning points to the inability to retain new information. This also prevents it from making room for new information and memories. Research also agrees that increased screen time reduces people’s IQ.

In conclusion, cellphone usage causes reduced ability to focus, poor self-worth, and reduced ability to retain information among students thus negatively affecting their academic performance. For instance, when students spend longer time on their phones, they are likely to feel stressed with subsequent predicted self-esteem issues. Increased use of cellphones can affect students’ ability to retain useful information.

References

Felisoni, D. D., & Godoi, A. S. (2018). Cell phone usage and academic performance: An experiment. Computers & Education, 117, 175-187.

Lee, S., Kim, M. W., McDonough, I. M., Mendoza, J. S., & Kim, M. S. (2017). The effects of cell phone use and emotion‐regulation style on college students' learning. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 31(3), 360-366.

Mendoza, J. S., Pody, B. C., Lee, S., Kim, M., & McDonough, I. M. (2018). The effect of cellphones on attention and learning: The influences of time, distraction, and nomophobia. Computers in Human Behavior, 86, 52-60.