Persuasive – Bring Your Own Device
Dear Prosper School Council,
My name is Reggie Rivers and I am a recent graduate of Prosper High School.I would like to share my opinion towards whether or not a Bring Your Own Device proposal should be mandatory or not. I personally believe that this proposal should be rejected because what supporters don’t understand is that, ultimately, technology will not have a large positive impact on students’ learning abilities.
The first and foremost reason I believe that BYOD should not be implemented is that, being a recent high school graduate, I understand that students will only use their devices as a form of distraction. Nowadays, cell phones make teenagers impatient, urging their minds to find out whether or not someone responded to their texts, or even who posted what on social media. Lending them the opportunity to do such activities within a space where they should be learning instead, will be only be harmful, not beneficial. A recent study states that for teenagers, specifically students, technology is a form of addiction. This, as the study indicates, develops a ripple effect of many other issues such as the inability to have social skills and maintain concentration on complex tasks, as well as the harm technology is producing on students’ cognitive skills. All of these combined, outweigh the benefits of technology and stand as a significant risk when deciding to implement BYOD. On a survey asking adults for their opinions, a teacher by the name of Calim Gamon stresses that her job is to educate students, not to monitor what they are doing on their phones. This is a strong effect of students easily becoming distracted. Teachers will continually be worrying as to whether or not their students are paying attention and understanding what is being taught. Teachers should not have this weight on their shoulders simply because their students are allowed to be distracted by their devices due to the BYOD proposal.
Another reason I believe that BYOD should not be implemented into Prosper High School is due to increasing bullying concerns. Students bully one another and this is just a fact. Allowing them, however, the opportunity to bring their devices to school will only increase the chances of bullying leading students to feel anxious about their situations. As sad as it is, bullying through technology is easier for many students who choose to bully because technology acts as a mask that they can hide behind. They don’t have to worry about teachers witnessing their behaviour towards others. Bullying through technology is more than sending rude comments. Sadly I know multiple peers who have gotten threats as well. It comes in many forms on devices. In classrooms students take photos of others as well as their teachers and send them around for fun. Students judge one another solely based on who has which phone. Cyber-bullying is so dangerous and can scar students. It will only make their anxiety and stress levels increase if they are able to access such hurtful comments and threats during class time when the only thing they should have to focus on is their education and what they are learning. A police officer by the name of Maxwell Ponte stated that he worries that through allowing technology in the high school, stress and anxiety for students will steadily increase.
The third reason I do not support the idea of BYOD is due to the financial debt it will cause, starting with the parents of students. Cindy, a mother of children who attend Prosper High School, emphasizes on her struggle with spending money on bills and upgrades for her children’s devices. She simply cannot afford to continue paying for all these costs especially if they will increase by BYOD. Cindy is one parent out of many, however, numerous numbers of parents will struggle with the financial costs following the implementation of BYOD. On FastPoll, a student argues that he uses his phone only for emergencies and having to use it in class permanently, will not be possible for him. He will not be able to pay for the bills and this struggle will fall on him. I remember being in class, and witnessing a number of students who did not have their own devices at all. Will the school expect them to buy it for hundreds of dollars along with data and bills to pay for? At a larger perspective, the financial issues will fall upon the school as well. Devices will get lost or stolen, they are bound to eventually. How will the school take responsibility for this and to what extent are they willing to go to assist students from preventing such situations? The costs will increase as the school will have to implement tools to help them solve these issues. Rather than going through all this financial debt, devices should simply not be mandatory to bring to school.
I understand that the idea of students bringing their own devices sounds beneficial because our society is progressly relying on technology, however, the harms are too vast to be ignored and affect, not only the students, but also their parents and teachers. Lending students the free will of accessing their phones in class will distract them, lead to increased amounts of bullying and anxiety because of it, and will frustrate parents with keeping up with their children’s phone bills. I truly hope that my opinion on this matter will assist you with deciding whether or not to implement BYOD and I greatly appreciate you taking the time to read my letter. If you have any questions, feel free to call me on 403-123-456 or email me at Reggierivers@gmail.com.
Sincerely,
Reggie Rivers