Folkways

4 Pages 950 Words

The continued advancements in technology today carry with them the inventions of new folkways. One of these technological innovations comes in the form of a compact cellular phone. Because of their seemingly infinite uses they have become the staple of American culture. They become especially useful to college students who are seldom in one place for too long and even more so to junior college students that typically have to travel some distance to the classroom. From the administrators and teachers standpoint, that is where the benefits of the phones end. A ringing or vibrating phone does not foster learning, instead it interrupts and prohibits the learning experience. It is in this way that the folkway has been established that delegates when and where cellular phones are to be used, the classroom not being an acceptable forum.
If I did not consider myself a risk-taker and if I did not want to elicit numerous and varying responses I would not have chosen to undertake the specific endeavor I opted for. The majority of students and teachers have encountered the breaking of this folkway before. Out of nowhere a sudden shrieking ring is heard and a student hurriedly reaches into his bag and quickly shuts off the phone. All the while students look in displeasure and await a response from the teacher, which surprisingly does not usually come. In order to make that response occur I took this process one step further. At specific times in two of my classes I set my phone's schedule to ring and remind me of nothing except the current disturbance. I reluctantly chose times when the disturbance would not cause disaster for the lecture and the other students' 'valuable time.' Also, I chose to e-mail the teachers minutes before the class began, so that they would not see it before class, yet to explain my actions and to apologize. Furthermore, I mentioned that I chose them because I thought they would be more understanding than o...