Phone Games: could they be the answer to hindering school work?

Jason Kingery, Staff Writer, Campus News

April 16, 2024

Cell phones, along with the games that can be installed on them, are a common distraction for students who are trying to get their schoolwork done. – Photo taken on March 15th, 2024 at Golden Valley High School

Dylan Vo

Cell Phones have existed since the year of 1973. From being a whole brick to carry around, to now being a little computer in the palm of your hand. Time really does fly. Since schools allow us to bring our phones to school, many students are heavily distracted during class time. Many students decide to play phone games instead of working.

When it comes to playing games or watching YouTube, many students at Golden Valley usually come into class and either do one of two things: sit down and begin writing their project/assignments, or spend an eternity on their phone till the period ends. Why are students stuck on their phones to the point where they don’t do their work?

To begin, students from gen-ed classes have many teachers who don’t bother asking students to put them away. Rather they hope they’ll get to work either tomorrow, or will grade their papers as missing so the students get on top of those certain assignments.

Michael Bunch, a teacher at Golden Valley instilled a phone policy into their classroom, to which he stated, “The human brain can only focus on one or two things at a time effectively. Learning requires attention. Many, I think, welcome not being distracted by constant notifications, texts, and applications demanding their attention. ”

While writing this article, The Grizzly Gazette asked students to answer honestly whether or not they play games on their phones instead of doing school work. To get an exact number in my mind 22 students here at Golden Valley were sampled. Out of the 22 students, 10 answered yes and 12 answered no leaving it at a whopping 52/48 percentage ratio.

While discussing with students around campus, One of the students that were asked, Joshua Barrios commented about the question, to which he stated, “as someone who does both spend time on (the) phone and do work, it’s a mixture of both really. Kids will get their work done but the real problem comes from those who stay on it the whole class period and will not get any work done.”

Many students handle being on task more. However, many are guilty of this occasion. However, many wish those who play on their phones to please at least get some work done ahead of time so it’s better to have assignments done instead of slacking off.

Doing stunts in class like that aren’t a good look for you, nor the teachers.

About the Contributors

Jason Kingery, Staff Writer

Jason Kingery is from and bases himself around Califorian news and news featuring/involving SoCal projects. He is a staff writer on the Campus News Team and senior (or 12th grader depending on who you are) at Golden Valley High School. Born on October 31st, 2006, He’s been involved at the school since he was just 9 years old, going to school to help his father out with things involving his class/teaching subjects. He is Passionate about covering topics that involve the weather, school wide issues, and problems involving better/equal pay for those who need it, reason being is for weather it’s always changing and it’s really important people are aware if it’s gonna go over 100 Degrees or drop to below freezing His Hobbies consist of relaxing at home playing games, going out in the backyard to play with his two dogs, being social and making new friends, and trying his best to make people smile/laugh. Fun facts for him are that he’s left handed and double jointed with both hands, and has been able to fast click at 60 CPS and is a fast typer. “Being a part of the new team for the Grizzly Gazette would bring apon a new horizon of work, fun, and plenty more to do at this school, I wish to give it my all and make this year better than what was the last three years.”

Dylan Vo, Photographer

Dylan Vo is the photographer for the Campus News Team of the Grizzly Gazette. He is currently a senior at Golden Valley High School and has been attending it since his freshman year. On top of his position in the Grizzly Gazette, he is also the Treasurer of both SkillsUSA and DFY in SCV, participates in clubs like Asian Student Union, CSF, and DEI, is a CTE Pathway Completer, and has plenty of hours and experience in community service. He also possesses a Youtube channel with over 1,000 subscribers that documents various topics within video game communities. Some of his interests include editing and posting videos, using Photoshop to create new images and designs, and watching TV shows on platforms like Disney Plus and Netflix. The main reason he joined the Grizzly Gazette was to enhance his journalism skills not only for his channel, but also for the greater good of the school through its newspaper. A couple of topics he covers here at the Grizzly Gazette are campus and online news since he believes students and staff should learn more about the activity occurring on both school grounds and the internet. To him, being a student journalist means not only being a part of something that can make a positive impact on the school, but also exposing writers to both new and old skills that can assist them throughout their lives.