Kyah Preston

January 9th, 2023

Qtr. 3, Feature # 1  controversial 

Should students get limited access to the internet 

Do you know of any schools that give unlimited wifi access to their students for their phones, laptops, or other devices? An overwhelming majority, 94% of public schools surveyed, reported they are providing digital devices, such as laptops or tablets, to students who need them for the 2022–23 school year. Yes, there are benefits to this decision, while there are also downsides to this big decision schools may have to make.

It’s not a secret that almost all of their students bring their phones with them to school. Some keep them in their backpacks, but most have them out in passing periods or in class. Whether it is to get on the Internet, to snapchat a friend or like a picture on Instagram, all students get on their phones. Some schools have good service so that most students don’t have to worry about not being able to use their phones properly. On the other side of that there are schools that don’t have good service, and that you may have a hard time using your phone in a way the students may want to.

Some pros of having availability to school internet on non-school-owned devices make up quite a list. A way it is seen as a pro is that students can contact their parents in a time of need or maybe in a time of emergency. They may need their phone to contact a family member quickly if they forgot something at home or need to leave because they do not feel well. They may need to contact their guardians to see if they are still supposed to ride the bus or drive somewhere different then they had planned. Another thing that a good connection with a phone can bring is the opportunity to send an absent student what they may have missed. There are many pros to having full accessed wifi for students.

Along with the pros, there is also a pretty big list of cons. Students may use the full access to the wifi as an excuse to be on their phone during class. Another con would be that students could cheat off of their phones during a test or quiz because they have a good connection too. I believe the biggest con would be that phones would be more distracting just because it is more available to the student.

Overall, I think that there are definitely some benefits, but also some downsides to this decision. I know personally that I would love to have full range of the wifi. 

 reviewed by: Jenifer Preston