How Cell Phones Affect Students Grades? (10 Things To Consider)

How cell phones affect students’ grades? This is something many parents and teachers constantly worry about.

Getting a quick peek on your phone might seem harmless but it can be rather distracting, especially for students during classes.

The importance of mobile phones in education is a much debated topic. A recent study has indicated that students are unable to retain information when using phones during classes.

People assume multitasking can make them more productive but the human brain focuses on one thing at a time. Switching between multiple tasks means your brain can’t keep up which causes delays in the attention and concentration.

Therefore, when students use cell phones during class lectures, their concentration is reduced and grades affected. Here are 10 ways cell phones affect students’ grades:

1. Distracting Temptations

The main reason many believe that cell phones should not be allowed in school is because it causes distractions for the students. When distracted, it is highly unlikely that the students can retain the information being shared in the class.

Constantly checking their social media for new likes, comments, posts, as well as messages from their friends keeps the students distracted from the class lessons. This distraction drastically reduces their attention span and as a result, their grades are affected.

Spending hours on phone, without touching their books or notes make the students less prepared for their tests and assignments. Students want to be available on all social media platforms in order to be approachable and likeable.

As a result, they keep on checking all their social media profiles to keep themselves updated which in turn reduces their focus from their studies.

No doubt, cell phones assists in the learning process in various ways but they also offer more temptations, which cause distractions. The students are more likely to give in to these temptations without worrying about their grades.

2. Inappropriate Behaviors

There are numerous theories about using cell phone in school but the fact that it increases the potential of inappropriate behaviors among students can’t be denied.

Such activities can include, looking at inappropriate content, sending and receiving inappropriate pictures, sexting, and so much more has become an increasing cause of alarm. Exposure to such activities at an early age increases the risk of addiction.

Addiction to cell phone, porn or sexual material can have a negative impact on the student’s life, which goes way beyond just bad grades in school. Once a student becomes an addict, their life continues spiraling down.

Students often are unable to understand the long-term consequences of such inappropriate behavior. What merely starts as fun or due to peer pressure can leave long lasting effects on their grades, college and work opportunities in later life.

3. Disturbed Brain Activity

There are many reasons why cell phones should be allowed in school including aiding in learning process. However, excessive usage of cell phones can have a negative impact on the brain.

These phones function on electromagnetic waves for all form of communication, while the brain uses its own electric impulses for maintaining communication throughout the body. The waves penetrate the impulses of students since they are still in the developing stage.

As a result, the brain activities are greatly disturbed, which in turn affects the focus and concentration levels of students. Moreover, in young children, it can also result in mood swings, behavioral tendencies, and learning difficulties.

When the student starts experiencing these issues, it automatically has an impact on their grades. Without being able to properly focus on their class lessons, assignments and tests, there is a dip in their grades.

4. Increase in Stress Levels

The usage of cell phone in class has also been reported to increase the stress levels of the students. Many have argued that cell phones are not educational tools because of the increasing levels of stress and anxiety among students.

Looking at pictures of their friends hanging out without them, seeing others constantly happy and content, as well as achievements of others can result in the formation of negative thoughts, decrease in self-esteem levels and increase in self-worthlessness.

All of this increases their stress levels, which eventually start impacting their studies and grades. The more they use their phones, the more severe this problem gets.

Ultimately, this continuous increase in stress levels start affecting their physical and mental wellbeing. This further affects their school work and grades.

5. Insufficient Sleep

Another major way how cell phones affect students in school is the negative impact it has on their sleeping patterns. Getting sufficient and quality sleep at night is integral in ensuring the students stay focused in school.

With the pressure of always being available to their friends, instantly responding to comments and messages on social media, making sure to check everything their friends’ posts, the students continue using their phones till late at night.

As a result, they are unable to get good amount of sleep which means they are drowsy during their lessons the next day. Lack of sleep also reduces their levels of focus and concentration, as well as their learning abilities.

Without proper concentration and focus during lessons, the students are unable to learn efficiently. They miss out on important information and concepts being discussed in class which later affects their grades.

6. Academic Misconduct

Research about cell phones in schools has also found that use of cell phones increases the chances of opting for misconduct. Phones don’t just cause distraction in class; it offers them opportunities to cheat in their tests and assignments.

Because of this temptation of getting better grades without even trying to study, the students are inclined to stop giving their studies the priority. They might get away with it in some cases; such misconducts ultimately catch up to them.

Being unprepared for tests and examinations, in hopes of cheating, means they do badly. This affects their grades and the chances of getting in good colleges.

Furthermore, if they get caught while doing such academic misconduct, it can result in grave consequences which could have a major impact on their future.

7. Possibilities of Cyber Bullying

One of the biggest cons of cell phones in school is the increase in risk of cyber bullying. Due to the factor of anonymity, the web offers a platform for bullies to target their victims without fearing of getting caught.

Recently, there has been an alarmingly increase in the rate of cyber bullying reports and cases. Because the identity of the bully isn’t known, it gets difficult to put a stop to such bullying. This bullying can drastically impact students.

As a victim, the mental and emotional stress is increased. They are also more prone to keep checking their phones even more frequently than before to check if other negative content has been posted about them.

This distraction during lessons, along with the massive stress they endure, not just affects their grades but all aspects of their life.

8. Decrease in Quality Communication

There are many pros and cons of cell phones in the classroom, but many reports have indicated that cell phones have decreased the quality of communication around the globe.

Many students use cell phones to communicate with their friends, family, and even strangers. Here is the bad part – even when they are in the same room, students are more likely to be talking in group chats in their phones!

Indeed, cell phones and internet has made this world a global village and has facilitated the communication. However, it has certainly not improved the quality of communication.

Face-to-face communication is still the most effective way of building quality relationships. But with more and more students opting to talk through messages and comments on their social media, face-to- face communication has drastically decreased.

This has also affected majorly during class lessons as well. Students avoid open discussions during classes; they are also less likely to ask questions in case of confusion. They rather look it up on the internet.

They are highly likely to get this information from unauthentic sources, which ultimately affects their grades when they utilize that wrong and inaccurate information in their studies.

9. Increased FOMO

Another way how cell phones affect students’ grades is the increasing rate of FOMO among the students. FOMO refers to the Fear Of Missing Out.

This phenomenon has been defined as the need to find out what all their friends and loved ones are up to, as well as stressing about whether or not others are enjoying without them.

This leads the students to keep their phones near them at all times so they can keep on checking for updates. This results in increased levels of anxiety, decrease in mood, lower concentration levels, and unnecessary worry.

All of this greatly affects their studies and ultimately their grades are affected.

10. More Procrastination

This cell phones distraction in classrooms has made way to an increase in procrastination among students. Procrastination is already rather common among students but it has increased in the recent years because of cell phones.

Students procrastinate during their lessons, studying for tests, and doing their assignments by opting instead to play games on their phones, chat with their friends, browsing through social media platforms, liking and commenting on their friends’ or strangers’ posts.

The lack of concentration and attention during lessons and assignments means they are more likely to miss important points in lessons and make mistakes in their assignments. This dip in performance due top procrastination affects their grades negatively.