Should parents give expensive gifts to encourage better grades? Do gifts make students achieve better in school? Are cell phones and social media distracting students from focusing on their studies.
This is the great debate. Let’s hear several students opinions about this issue.
Are cellphones and tablets a distraction for students?
Eighth grade student Fatmeh Dabaja says that her grade point average is usually a 3.3 or higher. Fatmeh and her mom knew that she really deserved a gift for having such good grades unlike her 7th grade brother Mohamed. Mohamed Dabaja usually gets a 1.8 or sometimes even lower. Fatmeh says that getting a new iPod 5 really helped her on her grades even more then she thought. Fatmeh also says that she isn’t really addicted to her iPod that much because she says school first, iPod second.
Zaeinab Chariyea says that she got a 1.888 on her 3rd report card and her mom rewarded her with an iPhone 5s. Zaeinab knows that she hasn’t always been a good student. Even though she did awful on her last report card, her mom and and aunt agreed that Zaeinab is an only child and she needs a phone. Zaeinab says “I think my new I phone 5s will help me focus more, and I’m trying not to be addicted to my phone such as other people.” Zaeinab also says that she will work hard to get a really good grade point average so that she can graduate and not go to summer school or any tutoring.
Celine Ajamy also got an iphone 5s recently. Celine gets amazing grades. Celine is a 3.8-4.0 student. Celine says that she isn’t really addicted to her phone either. “Having a phone to me is like reading a book,”. Celines mom says that she is really proud of her daughter for achieving her dream. Celine’s mother also says that she deserves an iphone 5s because of what an amazing student she is.
Yossr Saihi usually gets a 2.6 or even lower. Yossr’s mom brought her a Galaxy s2 a couple years ago and Yossr thought that maybe her grades will get better and better every day. It turned out to be worse because Yossr started failing every single card marking. Yossr says that her Galaxy s2 has been taken away for about 2 months and she believes that without social media such as Kik, and Instagram her grades could improve.
She feels like she is the smartest girl in the world. Yossr knows that she didn’t really need her device anymore. Yossr just admits that she doesn’t want to be that girl that has to go to summer school and be really embarrassed about failing the 8th grade year.
Honestly, It should really matter if students are getting good grades or not. Many believe a couple dollars would be a good reward but a phone or laptop is a little too much for doing what is expected anyways. Some students just get a good job or a high five for getting such a good grade point average.
Some students are getting horrible grades each and every single day but still having a phone, many believe that’s one of the reasons students fail. Parents should really think twice for what they want their children to have and what social media apps their children have. “Social media can affect the students learning and make them drop their SRI and Star Math scores,” said Mariam Daher, a Unis student. “Some students tell their parents that they have no homework and their parents just fall for it and just let them go on their cell phones.”
Students from the kindergarten to twelfth grade have homework every day. If you believe that you don’t have homework you can at least read for 1 hour, because reading makes you smarter and smarter every day. Good things come to those who work for them.
Amar Hamade
Journalist