Technology has increased throughout the globe in the past decade. As technology increases, its use is not only for the office, but also for school related work such as essays and projects. We all have different opinions on why we should or should not have the ability to use technology, such as cell phones, laptops, and iPads at school.

Students, administrators, and teachers all feel differently. Julia Potterfield (’12) said, “We’ve come to an age of technology, why not take advantage and use it for school purposes?” Many of us seem to think like Potterfield (’12), but what if we don’t have the right tools to take advantage of technology? We say we should be able to use it, but will the schools let us? Another important question is if students are even mature enough to use it.

Students may think it’s unfair, but the freedom to use technology during school is a risk. There are risks of things going missing, and students misusing their privilege, like going on social networking sites and getting distracted with solitaire and other games. “I think using them as resources would be really helpful, but at the same time it would be really distracting,” explained Tori Nguyen (’15).

Since technology is always changing we should be able to keep up with it. There are other devices to use besides the iPads and laptops, such as the Kindle and eReaders, which can be used for schoolwork like independent reading and other book projects.

I think our students should realize we have to prove that we are responsible enough to use devices during school, especially during NEST, before we can ever get that privilege to use our own use of technology. “In the future we’ll be moving towards only technology. We’ll be paperless,” Mr. Mast predicted. It would be nice to have my laptop in front of me for notes and researching, but we all have to be patient.