Text out of class, not during

So, I have a class this semester where we often have student presentations and movies shown… So, I have a class this semester where we often have student presentations and movies shown in-class rather than lecture. This isn’t so bad, really; it helps break up the monotony and makes for a dynamic way of presenting information.

Except that every time there’s something going on that isn’t lecture, the guy who sits behind me pulls out his phone and text messages the entire class.

I’ll be honest: It drives me completely insane. I can’t concentrate on what’s going on because all I hear is the mad little “clickity-clickity-click” of buttons being mashed at high speed. I’ve actually turned around and glared at this guy several times, but he’s so intent on his texting that he never notices. I’ve glared long enough to realize that he’s not even using predictive texting, which bothers me even more because it means I could be spared approximately two-thirds of the noise.

I know I could say something, but that would just guilt him enough so that he would attempt to text quietly rather than right in my ear. So I have to sit and suffer instead. But this also bothers me on a much deeper level, which makes more sense if I split it in two parts.

The first thing that always comes into my mind is, if you’re going to go to class at all, why would you show up and completely not pay attention? To me it seems far more offensive and annoying if you go to class but then blatantly don’t listen or participate. Just stay in bed! Nobody is going to miss you, that’s for sure.

The second thing that I always think is we’re paying for this education. We pay at least $6,500 per semester in tuition alone and as much as twice that for people who come from out of state. That means that when you go to class and just slack off, or sleep in for no reason or whatever, you’re literally wasting money.

If you’re going to pay obscene amounts of money for the benefit of having someone teach you things and give you a grade, you might as well actually listen to what the professor has to say.

And I’m paying to be annoyed for the entire class period because some jerk is making it impossible for me to learn.

I mean, it really bothers me that some people come to college and consider the educational aspects irrelevant or less important than their social lives or parties or whatever the heck they’re texting about. News flash: it’s probably not. Of course, college is about new experiences, new friends and all that other stuff, but it’s also about classes and grades.

Most people manage to hold these two aspects in some sort of balance, where classes have a priority when you’re actually sitting in them and social lives have a priority after 8 p.m. But then there’s the people who sit and talk or text or read or sleep or just don’t go altogether, as if it’s beneath them to pay attention. Some people who I’ve talked to about this issue say, “Well I can listen to the lecture and talk/text/sleep/whatever at the same time.”

And I say to these people, no you can’t. I’ve tried doing these things. I attempt to text people while walking and inevitably end up falling off the curb or nearly becoming roadkill. It is simply not possible to be aware of your surroundings and translate the “2” button into the letter “A” at the same time. The only difference is I don’t do it during class because I don’t want my grade to become the equivalent of a bus accident on Fifth Avenue.

So, here’s my idea. Instead of worrying about what messages you might have gotten during class or who’s going to buy the handles for your party tomorrow, just SHUT UP. Listen to what the teacher has to say. You might not be extremely interested in the subject, but that’s what add-drop periods are for. If you’re taking a class you should at least have the decency and respect for those around you to pay attention.

Slacking off creates what experts call a “negative learning environment,” where your behavior actually affects the behavior of those around you. Consider the rowdy classes you may have had in high school. One kid starts kidding around and it starts a landslide of chatter and general idiocy.

I’m not saying that the average psychology lecture would degrade that badly, but screwing around does make it harder for anyone in the vicinity to pay attention.

So put your cell phones, iPods and conversations away for fifty minutes. It might seem hard, even painful, but the power button is right there. It’ll still work when you leave class. You’ll live, I promise.

If you want to sit and text through your classes, e-mail Richard at rab53@pitt.edu and tell him about it. But don’t sit behind him.