How to Deal with Students who are Addicted to the Cell Phone  by Benjamin Todd Eller

For myself and many professors, this might be the biggest challenge that professors face. Earlier, I gave you some alarming statistics when it came to cell phone usage. Here is another, according the research firm Dscout (2018), the average person swipes or types on a cell phone 2,600 times per day. Psychologists have coined a term which is Nomophobia (the fear of being without a mobile device). Also, scientists are discovering that when we do not check the message we hear from our cell phone, we can experience anxiety. Blood pressure goes up as well as stress. Furthermore, when we receive a message and check it, we can experience the release of dopamine in our brains. This causes pleasure. All these symptoms have the makings of an addiction. I personally have no doubt that many people are addicted to their cell phone including the students I taught. I personally give this particular speech at the beginning of every class:

It is a pleasure to have all of you here. I need you to know that the biggest challenge that I have teaching students has been their cell phones. This was not an issue when I was kid because I’m much older than most of you. I realize that some of you that this is going to be very difficult simply because I do not allow cell phone usage in my classroom unless I specifically instruct you to use it to conduct research.

Some of you will come up with the excuse that you might have an emergency from your child or something else. I do find it amazing that when I was in college, if there was an emergency, my family can simply call the campus police and someone would come to my class and inform me that something has gone wrong. However, if you do answer your cell phone for any reason in this class, I will assume that it is emergency. So please, stand up and leave and don’t come back until the next class meeting. Because if it is an emergency, then clearly you cannot stay. Now I know some of you might say “but I did not know if it was an emergency or not, maybe it is not. Should I not be allowed to answer the phone to see if it’s an emergency?” I highly suggest you tell your family and friends to not call you during this class time. If they do, again I will assume it’s an emergency. If you insist on checking your cell phone for any reason during this class time to see if it’s an emergency, that is the risk you’re going to take.

The syllabus makes it very clear. If you miss class for any reason, I cannot count you as present. Notes are to be taken with pencil and paper or a pen if you prefer. If you have some kind of disability or injury prevents you from writing your notes, and you ask to use a computer or mobile device, then please discuss that with me after class. I will insist that you sit in front of the class so I can check you are actually using your device to take notes. In the past, some people were actually not taking notes in class but doing other things. The syllabus spells out cell phone and computer policy. If you are too tempted to use your cell phone during class, I suggest you keep your cell phone in the car.