No matter what type of cellphone students use, their goal is always to hide them from the prying eyes of their teachers. | Kendra Berglund/The Daily Cougar
Last week during the first few days of class, professors gave their policy on phones. Teachers like to remove any distractions that may present themselves in class, so naturally one of the first requests that students get is to turn their phones off at the beginning of each class.
Students should always follow their instructors’ directions, of course. However, sometimes there is a message that just has to be sent or a class can be unbearably boring. That brings us to two problems: how not to get caught and how not to be a distraction to the rest of the class. Not being distracting means we abide by the instructors’ ultimate need — keeping the class on topic.
The first problem is that cell phone screens are really bright. The last thing any student wants to do is to provide a spotlight for teachers to catch them in the act. The first step is to get used to looking at the phone at an angle. Don’t practice this too much in your free time — that’s just weird — just think of the phone as a flashlight. Anywhere the screen points, there is going to be a glowing light.
Now build a fort around your phone. This will be a structure to hide your phone’s glow. There are a few options here. You could build a ghost army like they did during WWII where the sole purpose of your structure is to distract the enemy’s (read: teacher’s) attention. Magicians use this distraction method, but ghost army has a better sound to it.
Just build something that will catch anyone’s eye — or you could just put something on your desk that warrants a second look. Keys with a lot of decorative keychains on them or an open bag of candy will do. Now, be a bit careful, because too much of this and attention will be drawn to your area.
The next option is to build something to encase or block the phone from other people’s prying eyes. Use things that would naturally be on a desk. The sofa cushions that you used to build a fort when you were young is not an appropriate option here. The backpack on top of the desk is available only at the beginning of class. “You could use the flip-up writing desk and stick your phone under that,” suggests Stuart Humphries, a second-year architecture student.
The desk is always the best structure to use because it draws the least amount of attention.
There is also the sound that cell phones make. If you’re going to keep the phone on vibrate, be sure to keep the phone next to something that will muffle the vibration of the phone. Don’t leave the phone on top of the desk or inside of a bag. The best place for the phone is your pocket or on your lap.
“I like to hold my phone between my legs, so it seems like I’m starring at my crouch and not my phone,” said Steve Moreno, senior mathematics student.
Just because the teacher doesn’t see you doesn’t mean you sent your message with the stealth of a texting ninja, so keep all phone use during class short and sweet. As boring as some classes may be, there could still be one student desperately trying to pay attention.
