When academic assignments are done for the day, students will often have the remainder of class time to spend on whatever they please as long as it is approved by the teacher. This can be a variety of things ranging from playing games on his or her phone or drawing in the margins of the assignment if it was done on paper. Yet, out of the many ways to spend down time in class, what is the most preferred among students, and how can that differ from the opinions of the staff at St. Louis High School?
After lessons, there is an abundance of things students can do after the assignments are completed. Of course, the way to spend his or her time depends on the mood someone is in. Senior Kaydence Heiden said, “My go-to after I complete any assignment will always be my phone so I can get references for drawings I do. If I cannot have my phone in class, I would just be drawing or reading to pass the time. I believe that phones are becoming a big issue in the school, even during class when the teacher says they are not allowed. I think if teachers gave options after class such as word searches or crosswords phone usage would lessen just a little bit, even if it wasn’t for extra credit.”
In modern day, cell phones are the go-to after assignment pass time instead of things one thinks of such as reading a book or drawing, maybe being productive and doing assignments for other classes and asking questions.
Most teachers would rather students find other ways to spend his or her free time. Ms. Sura said, “I think it depends on the student. If someone has homework to do, then I think they should do that. I would love to see more students reading when they have time.” She added, “Phones are okay to use if the teacher is on board with this. I believe our students here are good at knowing which teachers are okay with phones and which are not. I do not feel that phones are becoming a real issue at the Shark Tank. The only issue I see is when students (or adults for that matter) cannot separate themselves from their phones. There is a danger zone when phone use can become addictive. However, in today’s world, phones are an easy way to get and give information.”
While students believe their way to spend time is better than what their teachers would do, there is no wrong way to use one’s free time., That is unless the teacher says otherwise or chooses to provide options for students to do after assignments to limit the phone usage in classes.
