Electronics; we see them everywhere in our daily lives. Cellphones, Mp3 players, tablets; you name it, and they surround us wherever we go. They are fun and useful for the tasks we need to complete but in some places, all of this technology can become a negative. School is one of those places.
Until recently, we have had free student Wi-Fi for everyone to enjoy throughout their day at school. This came as nothing short of a miracle for many students who did not want to use their data or do not have access to data. It allowed students to go on Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and many other apps at their leisure. All that free, data-less access is all fine and dandy, but it does inspire one important question: Does free Wi-Fi belong in a school?

It did not take long after the Wi-Fi started for teachers to add to their list of student complaints the fact that the Wi-Fi was creating even more distractions for kids.

We’ve all seen it, a student with a phone in his/her lap during class, tweeting about his/her weekend plans or something along those lines. Heck, I’ve been that student before; I’m guilty of texting a friend of mine in class, thanks to the free Wi-Fi. It is hard not to reach into your pocket and turn that phone on when the class you are taking makes you want to sleep until that 5-chime bell. Students are hardly to blame when the school is, essentially, facilitating all of this with the tempting lure of free Wi-Fi.

It’s no secret that our lives center on our phones, but school should not be a place where that time increases. I love Wi-Fi just as much as any other student, but the negative consequences are too hard to ignore, which means that it isn’t a good idea to allow Wi-Fi to be used so freely in a place meant for learning.

I assume that the Wi-Fi was put into place to help student learning and that is great, but one cannot be oblivious to the fact that along with this boost in student learning comes a boost in distraction.

I have two solutions. One, limit Wi-Fi availability to the beginning, middle (LAP) and end of school. This way, students who are on it are likely to be focused on educational use. The other solution is to block any non-educational apps. Wi-Fi, is great, but students shouldn’t be allowed to use it freely in an institution for education. Just Sayin’.