No more laptops: what did you expect?

A number of people have complained about professors banning, or at least limiting, laptop use in the classroom but aren’t the various degrees of outrage misdirected? After all, did we not abuse the privilege in the first place?

Facts, as John Adams said, are stubborn things. The facts are pretty obvious- a small number of students have at different times been caught playing video games, checking emails, chatting on messenger programs, or otherwise busying themselves on their laptops with things not related to the class they're sitting in. A large number of laptop-owning students have likely not been caught yet, but are often engaged in the similar activities. To the student this may be a simple example of multi-tasking; but, I believe some students actually just don't care about the content of the class and would prefer to achieve the minimum in participation so they can get class-time out of the way. Having on occasion been of that same state of mind, it's a fairly small leap to accept that others share the sentiment. The fact, then, that most of us are guilty of the action that is bringing about this punishment leads me to wonder whether anyone is actually surprised by it. After all, when you break a rule it has consequences.

Something that we seem to be increasingly unaware of in our multimedia age is that giving your attention to someone is an indicator of respect. Imagine, for instance, that you are excitedly telling your friend about something that happened to you, but while you're talking your friend is texting on his phone and has an mp3 player playing music in one ear. Would that not seem, if not disrespectful, at least very awkward? And yet we do not apply this standard to the teachers who give their time to us in the classroom. We cannot, however, expect others to devote their attention to us and then not devote our attention to others when it is expected and/or required of us. We are voluntary students only insofar as we decide to come to this school and go to certain classes. When you're in the classroom you are under the authority of, and therefore owe your attention to, the professor.

We have for the most part lost sight of this fact, I think. It is easy for college students to embrace the relative empowerment of the college student's life as compared with the strictness and structure of our high school years. It is not so easy for us to accept the responsibilities entailed in receiving greater freedom. This responsibility, like most others, requires us to devote a great deal of effort to doing what is right over doing 
what is fun or easy. Until we as a student body show ourselves capable of shouldering such responsibilities, I completely agree with the professor’s right to limit the use of laptops in the classroom.

That said, the ones who have a right to be annoyed by this are the few students who were acting responsibly in their use of class time. They have the right to be annoyed with their fellow students who abused the privileges associated with college life and the owning of a laptop. After all as we are all now quite aware, the actions of some students weigh heavy on the privileges of us all. Perhaps if we might take the time in the future to remind ourselves that actions often have consequences for more than one person, then fewer students would suffer from our mistakes.

When it comes down to it, as I have said before, many who have used laptops in classrooms have at some point or another abused the privilege. Perhaps we have not played video games, but we have checked our email or talked with friends. The argument that students can/may multitask in the classroom is often a dishonest one because we all know that when we're talking to a friend online we are not paying close (if any) attention to the professor. An argument might be made about playing, for instance, solitaire or minesweeper as a way of occupying your hands while you listen, but that is hardly the issue that has caused the limitation of laptops. When it comes down to it, we owe our professors all of our attention. Our grades reflect it, social standards of respect ask it, and Biblical submission to authority requires it.