In the last few years, the use of electronic devices in the classroom has become acceptable. With student’s eagerness to stay communicated and entertained, this liberty is something that everyone is taking advantage of. The thing is, the use of mobile devices has since become an obsession.

Nearly everyone on campus owns a smartphone and likes to keep it on them every single moment of their day, I myself am guilty of charge. You never know when an emergency might arise or someone important might try to get ahold of you.

Has anyone stopped to think how disturbing to the professor and classmates it is when your phone goes off in the middle of a lecture? According to a study of 675 students in 26 states conducted by Bernard McCoy, students check their phones or other digital devices an average of 11 times throughout the day.

There are professors that are very lenient about the issue. How many times have we not been in this scenario: The professor is well into the lecture, everybody is focused and taking notes when suddenly the opening ringtone of your IPhone lets you know you’ve got a call.

You panic, turn off the sound as fast as you can, everyone is startled and what happens next? The situation gets laughed off and the lecture continues. It’s no big deal, it was an honest mistake. But then it happens again in the next class.

Kevin Loya, biology major, states that he has witnessed this happen in almost every one of his classes. “It is very annoying when all you’re trying to do is pay attention and somebody’s phone goes off as loud as it possibly can and the teacher does nothing about it. The least we can do is silence our phones before class starts,” Loya said.

Not only is this annoying, but it is also very disrespectful. Going to class shouldn’t be a burden, but for most students that seems to be the case. While we may think the teacher does’t notice, teachers are actually perfectly aware of the issue. The reason they don’t take your phone (besides the fact that we are college students and adults and we should be capable of making smarter choices than to check our facebook feed during class) is that they don’t care if your grade drops, because it will.

According to a research conducted by Jeffrey H. Kuznekoff and Scott Titsworth where the studied the impact of mobile phone usage on student learning, cell phones in class are in fact a distraction.

The study showed that students who were not using their mobile phones wrote down 62% more information in their notes, took more detailed notes, were able to recall information from the lecture and scored a full letter grade and a half higher on a multiple choice test than those students who were actively using their phones.

Darin Workman, concert band, music theory, and jazz appreciation instructor, sees this happen in his classroom often.

“I can’t legally take student’s phones away, but if I could, I would. I do think allowing phones in class has become a big issue, especially in the way it makes a good method for academic dishonesty. that’s why all my tests are essays and usually the kids who stay on their phones in class and don’t listen to the lecture are the ones that don’t do so good on the tests,”  Workman said.

Can you see why this is a problem? You using your cell phone in class, however, doesn’t just jeopardize your learning experience, but the one of those around you as well. In a survey conducted by Deborah Tindell and Robert Bohlander called, “The Use and Abuse of Cell Phones and Text Messaging in the Classroom,” most students participating in the research, reported that texting is distracting to nearby students.

It is very disturbing to others when you’re continuously receiving text messages and the whole class is being notified of it. It’s clear that you don’t want to be there, but why should your classmates suffer the consequences?

“I’ve experienced a time when somebody’s phone went off during a test. It was really distracting to me. I don’t have a problem with my classmates being on their phone as long as it doesn’t affect me or keep me from staying focused on the lecture,” Cindy Lucero, biology major, said.

The privilege of having our phones out in class shouldn’t compromise our learning experience, but for some reason, that is exactly what it has come to. The irresponsible use of our mobile devices is distracting to everyone and it shows lack of respect for other individuals in the classroom.

The ideal thing to happen would be for everyone to keep their phones off and in their bags until class gets out. Since that is pretty much impossible these days, the least we can do is silence them and try not to be a distraction for everybody else.