1. Communication in Ruins: The Addiction of Social Media
By Amber Seifert
Imagine you’re sitting in class actually paying attention to your teacher and you hear a chuckle
coming from a few seats over, you look and it’s someone who is clearly Snapchatting. What do
you feel at that moment? I, personally, feel incredibly annoyed at this. I want to jump out of my
seat into their lap and start shaking them and screaming, “WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU?
PUT. IT. AWAY.” Of course we all know that if I were to do that I would be sitting in jail
awaiting bail money because I assaulted another student, so that isn’t an option.
I am not perfect when it comes to social media in the classroom. I think almost everyone has
their moments of checking Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and all of the other popular social
media sites, but when is it too much? When does it become a distraction? To answer these
questions I set out on a quest to find random students and ask them series of questions about
social media and electronics in the classroom and the results weren’t shocking. Out of 15 people,
8 said they use electronics in the classroom and that if they were bored in the class they were
more likely to check their social media. The majority of the 7 people that do not use electronics
in the classroom stated that it was because of personal preference to use pen and paper, or
because they know they will be distracted.
Not surprisingly, most people said they do get distracted by the use of electronics in the
classroom but only when they can see that those using them are on social media. For one student
named Adam, it’s never been a huge distraction for him and when I asked him if he believes
students would do better in school if electronics were banned from the classroom he said
something that really hit me, “if people have a distracted mind, then they will find something
else to distract them.” I have can absolutely agree with this because I have a distracted mind, so
whether I have electronics or not I know that I will more than likely be distracted by something
else.
Let’s take this outside of the classroom for just a second, when you’re hanging out with your
friends and you’re trying to actually have a conversation with them but all they are doing is
taking selfies, texting, or checking Facebook and Twitter, do you feel like what you have to say
isn’t important? Imagine how your professors feel. Remember, you did choose to take the class,
whether it is a GER or not, there are still sometimes options. I believe that social media isn’t just
ruining our abilities to have face-to-face conversations, but that it is also hindering our
performance in the classroom. Almost everyone I surveyed doesn’t agree with me, and that’s
okay, but if we were to do an experiment, like spending a week or two without our electronics,
do you think you would do better in your classes? Would you retain more information?
I know, it’s your money and you paid tuition so you can choose what you do in those classes and
whether you pass or fail, but then why are you in college if not to learn new things? I think we
should all embrace the fact that we have the ability to learn new things each and every day and I
think we need to remember that there are a lot of people who never get this opportunity. I also
believe that we need to learn new levels of respect for others. It seems that respect has dwindled
and is a lot of times non-existent, and that needs to change. I think we all need to embrace these
opportunities instead of throw them away.