I’m sitting in chapel and during the middle of the message I happen to look to my right. Five people sit all in a row, and each one of them is using their phone. At least two students in my own row have them out, as well. Cell phone use during chapel has become increasingly rampant, and to be honest, this is frustrating.
Honestly, I have had my phone out in chapel before. It’s always brief-just to check the time or maybe reply to a quick text message. I know others do similar things, such as adding a reminder in their phone so that they don’t forget something they need to do later in the day. It is not this kind of sporadic screen-checking that bothers me; what bothers me is when an individual continuously scrolls down his/her bright screen for chapel’s entirety. Frankly, it is disrespectful to the speaker, and quite often distracting to those around you.
There is some murky area here because chapel attendance is required of us as students. Maybe you have too much homework to do and you are using your mobile device to read for class. It is understandable that this will happen once in awhile (I’ve done it, too!). Furthermore, I understand that sometimes the topic spoken about in chapel is of little interest to someone, who may be there because they need to get their chapel credits in. Personally, I think not being interested in what someone has to say is a poor excuse for refusing or being unwilling to pay attention. We represent our school to these speakers who take time out of their lives and sometimes travel a long way to come and speak to us. What do we want these speakers to remember about Houghton students? That they couldn’t spend forty-five minutes off of their phones?
Also, consider that it is not just outside guests coming to speak that are affected by students using cell phones, but fellow students are affected as well. When asked about her experience giving a faith journey, Joanna Friesen ‘15 said she “was not there to glory in people’s attention,” but she did notice a significant portion of her audience using cell phones. “There’s a group mentality of I can do this because everyone’s doing this,” she noted, “but when everyone thinks that way, half the chapel’s on their phone…”
In continuation, I am not claiming this to be an entirely accurate representation or scientific survey, but last week I took an informal poll of ten random students, asking if they’ve been seeing a lot of cell phone use around them in chapel and whether it bothers them. While every single one of them admitted that it’s something they notice, only four of them said they find it distracting. Still, I’d like to speak for even those four students out of ten – we’re not all good at multitasking, and we very much want to pay attention to the speakers, but it’s difficult to do so when someone in front of us is playing a game on his or her cell phone.
While considering this topic, I couldn’t help but wonder why so many students use their phones during chapel, so as I asked around. In reality it is not always – and perhaps even rarely – out of aloofness or disrespect. When asked about why she uses her phone in chapel, Kayleen Norcutt ‘16 said, “Honestly, I would attribute it more to my addiction to my phone than a problem with chapel.” She told me she likes using that time while she’s sitting down to scroll through her phone and unwind from the busy day. In fact, that it’s difficult for her not to do that.
In conclusion, I’m not advocating a requirement that during chapel everyone sits with their hands folded and eyes never diverting from the pulpit. I am simply asking that we think about how this looks from an outside perspective and attempt to weigh our decisions about phone use accordingly.