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In conclusion, we believe that we have successfully proved why students should be allowed to use phones in school with the use of concrete & realistic evidences and logical reasoning. The argument that misuse of technology leads to misconduct is that it is unfair to generalize the behavior of a few individuals to an entire student population. It is important to remember that there will always be a small percentage of students who engage in misconduct, regardless of whether or not they have access to technology/phones. Punishing all students by denying them the use of phones is not a fair solution. Instead of banning phones in class, it is better to educate students about responsible technology use and to implement measures to address misconduct when it occurs. Banning phones outright would be counterproductive to the goal of developing responsible digital citizens and innovate them to be better prepared for the real world. By allowing phones in the classroom, we can provide students with important educational tools, allow for emergency communication, teach responsible phone usage, and bring more convenience to the students.

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To rebut the claim that using phones promotes academic dishonesty, there is much evidence that suggests otherwise. A study by researchers at the University of California, Irvine found that banning phones in schools had no significant impact on test scores, despite concerns that students would no longer be able to cheat. The study concluded that students did not rely on phones as a primary means of cheating and that other factors, such as motivation and study habits, had a greater impact on academic performance. A survey of 24,000 high school students by Common Sense Media found that only 29% of students reported using a phone to cheat on a test, and only 23% reported using a phone to cheat on homework. The survey also found that students who used phones for educational purposes, such as looking up information, were more likely to report higher levels of engagement and academic success. Additionally, cheating is a behavior that can occur with or without the use of a phone. Banning phones is not the solution to this problem. The proposition team also mentioned that phones lead to the taking of inappropriate photos. However, if a student is able to secretly take inappropriate photos, they most definitely will find a way to hide their phones and do the same again. Taking away their phones, once again, will not be an efficient solution to this problem. To continue with our claims, there are many things that smartphones can do that your laptops can’t. For instance: calls and ways of communication. Not only can phones give students another way of communicating with one another about their work, it also allows easy communication between parents/guardians and students. Phones act as a very effective way for parents to contact students in any cases of emergencies or ensuring their safety. With their phones, students will be able to reach their parents quickly. In fact, it is one of the main reasons that parents buy phones for their children. If they can’t use it, then it will be a waste of their money. Phones also bring many other conveniences. Many students don't have expensive wireless headphones that can connect to their laptops and iPads. This brings a major inconvenience as modern learning requires a lot of watching videos which requires sound. As a personal anecdote, in my class, I was always instructed to watch the videos on Collegeboard. However, since I don’t have wireless headphones that can connect to my ipad, it made it very difficult and challenging for me to understand the video. We also can’t take photos of our lessons. Sometimes, the instructor explains and doesn’t give students enough time to make notes. With phones, we are able to simply take photos of the notes for later recollection. These are the reasons as to why it is unequivocally essential that students are allowed phones during class.

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In conclusion, we believe that the proposition should win because our evidence and statistics were more relevant and realistic as opposed to the opposition. In addition, the proposition has more concrete claims that are actually happening in society. Proud to propose.

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Panels and the opposition, as my teammates have explained, I believe that this motion should be supported unconditionally. We’ve brought up sufficient evidence, statistics, and even real-life examples of cases, where phones were proven to be a great issue for students. For instance, the recent incident with a student misusing their phone to inappropriately take pictures of another student is one of the innumerable accounts of phones yielding more harm than good. On the other hand, the opposition has failed again and again to curate any real evidence. For instance, the opposition raised the fact that teachers should set policies but they failed to list out what kind of policies should be set. Moving on, let’s imagine this. In a world, where this motion is in effect, students wouldn’t be able to openly use their phones. Contrary to what the opposition believes, a world without phones in class increases productivity. With no distractions coming from ringtones or message alerts, students can focus more on their studies. In addition, the class wouldn’t be disrupted and class discussions would flow more smoothly, leading to more interactions and so on. On top of that, side opp claims that using phones encourages students to be productive, but what they fail to realize is that it can also lead to academic dishonesty. A study reported that 35% of students admit to using phones at least once to cheat. 65% of students report that other students use their phones to cheat during class. Is this the productivity the opposition claims? To me and probably everyone else, it doesn’t seem like it. Think about it, if there is such a high percentage of cheating as a result of using phones in class, could you really still say phones are beneficial? It does not seem like it. Furthermore, a world with this motion will have fewer cases of cyberbullying. With no phones, students can’t take pictures and that decreases the chances of technological misusage too. Lastly, a world without phones in the classroom encourages more social interactions because students will be more inclined to share their ideas and interact with each other; improving the overall class atmosphere. Proud to propose.

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The second speaker from the opposition team mentioned that phone can be used as education tools to help students with significant benefits to access educational apps. It is true that a phone can be useful during class time since it allows students to research information related to their studies and use it to access the school applications but only if they use them wisely. As one of the students, we can all agree that having a phone is distracting even when used for educational purposes. Many students tend to do “digital multitasking” in which they do their tasks and do other activities at the same time. This decreases their concentration on the work and focuses less in class. Moreover, many students now have their own devices such as tablet or laptop, which they can use for their class instead of their phone. In addition to the risks of cyber bullying and class disruptions, phones also decrease social interaction and create health problems. This is because allowed usage of phones encourages students to withdraw themselves from class interaction. Rather than participating in class discussions, students will only focus on their phones. Not only will it leads to addiction, but phones in class will also decrease the bond students have with one another. A famous school in India named Ecole Globale said, “that in the age of playing, discussing their problems or happiness with friends, creating friendships, bonding in schools, they are just busy playing virtual games in recess and free lectures. This lowers their communication skills and interactive skills and results in loneliness, anxiety or depression, etc. Their interaction with teachers, seniors, juniors, and classmates decreases.  This impacts their mental health as; constant usage of cell phones makes them irritable and pushes them towards depression and other mental health issues. Cell phones make children couch potatoes, lowering their physical activities.”

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Banning phones in classrooms wouldn’t be an effective answer to the problem of distractions. Students who are committed to being distracted would find other ways to still be distracted like talking to other students, or day dreaming. Teachers should find a way to incorporate the uses of phones in their learning so that they could be used for good instead. The teachers should be aware of the modern world and should make an effort to set guidelines and rules, teachers can work with students to teach them responsible phone use, and create innovative ways to teach them instead of taking their phones and distractions away. Phones can be used as educational tools to help students; it provides students with significant benefits to access educational apps, research information and take notes, much faster than traditional ways, such as reading through books, or taking down notes with pens and pencils. Many teachers also use mobile technology to enhance their lessons and teachings with students to make it more collaborative and innovative. And as of today’s world digital literacy is a very important aspect, allowing students to use phones in an educational way may help students develop those skills and be better prepared for real world’s work.

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Our first speaker has already explained about the risks of cyber bullying and how it severely impacted the mental health of students. I will now be talking to you about the distraction phone caused in class. This is because allowing students to use phones disrupts the class. Random text messages and phone calls may disturb the class discussion, causing students to lose focus. In addition, ringtones and message alerts encourage students to continue using their phones. The first speaker from the opposition team tried to tell you that banning smartphones can cause us a lot of trouble and it negatively affect the student’s productivity. However, with phones or no phones, there are no research shown that phones has anything to do with the productivity of the students. They also stated that phones should not be banned as cyber bullying can still occur. With this being stated, the opposition team are not taking cyber bullying as a major problem.

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Greetings everyone. I am a member of the opposition team, speaking on behalf of why students should be allowed to use their phones during class time. Smartphones, a tool of technology used to make calls, answer emails, search up content, and research topics. What the Proposition team failed to consider is that banning smartphones will only cause us a lot of trouble and negatively affect students’ productivity. Imagine if you don’t have a smartphone in the 21st century, we would be using big bulky calculators, and searching up words from the dictionary, which really slows down the time we could have spent actually learning something. This new policy sets our education back 20 years like we’re still in the 90s, an outdated time in this fast paced, evergrowing society. From my experience as a student in high school, smartphones have greatly improved my performance in class and it makes learning more fun and efficient. It is the modern world that we are living in. In all of our future, phones will be one the most essential tools that we will be continuously using. Therefore, having a way to learn and practice incorporating these devices in our daily life and work in class time will promote a more productive and advanced future. This is one of the main reasons that we believe that phones should be allowed to be used during class time. The second and third speaker will be discussing the claim that phones can be used as educational tools to help students and that phones are a very convenient device that have more uses than your laptops.

While it is true that cyberbullying can occur through phone usage, it’s not a valid reason to ban phones. Cyberbullying can occur throughout any other electronic devices, not just phones, including computers, tablets, and possibly even through school computers. Instead of taking or banning phones altogether, schools should take a more protective approach and educate students more about technological use and appropriate online behaviors, and implement consequences for those who cyberbully.

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Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to this debate. As a proposition, I am proud to propose the following motion: “This house believes that students should not use phones during class”. Panels, in a world dominated by technology, the classroom is no exception. It’s without a doubt that the majority of students possess phones and are bringing them inside the classroom. However, is it really the right choice to allow students to openly use them during class hours? As a proposition, my team strongly believes that this isn’t the case. Side opposition may touch upon the fact that the usage of cell phones may yield benefits, however, what opposition fails to realize is that the cons of phones in class outweigh the benefits. With that introduced, I’ll bring up the first argument, while my teammates will elaborate on the rest. Students should not use cell phones during class as it increases the chances of cyberbullying. There have been several cases where students record embarrassing moments of other students, only to post them later on other social media platforms. Not only is this an invasion of privacy, it’s also an act of cyberbullying. And the consequences are severe; detrimental mental health, etc. In addition, A study conducted by stopbullying.gov, an official government website, has reported that among students aged 12-18, approx. 15% were cyberbullied. This goes to further strengthen the fact that phone usage during class time is a terrible idea. Proud to propose.