Phone breaks aren’t a bad idea

pixy.org

Teachers should allow students to take phone breaks during class – not the phone break where we put screens away, but where we take them out. 

Students and teachers alike have phone addictions. Phone breaks help with the urge to constantly check our phones. 

“I think, with our current setting, a phone break in the middle of class could have a positive impact,” math teacher Timothy McGill says. 

As a student in Mr. McGill’s Business Math class, phone breaks help me pay attention in class more instead of feeling the buzz in my pocket and feeling the need to check it every time. It is easier to let it be, knowing that I will check my phone within 15-20 minutes and not let that urge eat me alive.  

Another reason we should have phone breaks is because of emergencies. If something happened at school that causes me to need to get a hold of my family or if something happened at home, that means they need to get a hold of me.

“In Business Math I’ve allowed it,” McGill said. “I have to walk around and make sure every kid has tried it and has done it, and once they have tried it, they can take their phone out while I check with all the other kids.” 

McGill says this incentivizes kids to get the problems done. 

I agree phone breaks encourage me to get through hard problems instead of just giving up. Using my phone as a reward for getting my work done helps me want to actually get it done faster. 

“There are some kids in business math that really struggle with math, and there are some kids that don’t at all. Everyone in business math knows each other, and if they can’t have their phone, they are going to cause shenanigans rather than go on their phone for 5 minutes,” McGill says.

I think phone breaks should be in every class. The duration and when during class should be up to the teacher. Kids need this!