Cell phones are everywhere, in the pockets of students, in the purses of teachers, even in the hands of principals as they hurry along the hallways. Within the past 10 years, cell phones have been used in the daily lives of millions of Americans, becoming the one innovation that we couldn’t, and shouldn’t, live without.

According a recent MIT survey, there are an estimated 203 million cell phone users in the US alone, innovating our lives, and forcing us into the future.

With cell phones, we can all stay connected 24 hours a day, to our friends, our family, the ones we love. It is easy to sing the praises of such a necessary device…in today’s world, even an hour with no contact to the ones someone needs to talk too can be devastating. Cell phones in school, likewise, are a luxury that could be used in an affirmative way, in class work and in emergency situations.

Take a sick student for example. Cell phones with cameras on them and texting abilities could easy snap pictures of notes or assignments the student missed. Notes could also be photographed for personal use. School projects done in class can be photographed for personal reference or for parents to see.

Many math teachers have heard the question ‘When are we going to use this in real life?’ ‘What good does this do me now?’ Obviously, regular people aren’t going to walk around for the rest of their life with a TI-84 in their pocket. However, most cell phones have calculators built right into the phone. Learning to use a cell phone as a calculator could be an excellent example of how math can be used in everyday life.

Independent work can also benefit from cell phone usage. A lot of cell phones are beginning to come integrated with MP3 players, and music can be soothing to study, making it easy to focus on your own work instead of the distractions. Having an MP3 built into your phone can make carrying around several electronic devices much, much easier.

Cell phones aren’t just incredibly helpful to study and to recreation, but also a safety precaution. A text to a family member or to a friend who is not in school saying “call 911, school emergency” could save hundreds of lives, regardless of how alarming it may sound.

Now, of course while cell phones are incredibly helpful in schoolwork and precaution, there’s always the threat of cell phones being distracting. Most cell phones have the option to be silenced or put on vibrate, so that they wouldn’t distract others around them. Cell phone usage must be regulated, yes, so that a student can’t take a call in the middle of class, but during individual work or silent study, using your phone as an MP3 player to drown out talking students or buzzing lights is an instant confiscation.

No matter what stance may be taken on cell phone usage in school, it can not be denied that cell phones have greatly improved our lives, connecting us to the outside world, to those that we love and to the people we need. Cell phones can either be fought by teachers and principals by rules and punishments, or can be accepted and regulated to evolve to the advancing technology and a faster paced world.