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University Study: Students Feel Guilty for Texting in Class

University Study: Students Feel Guilty for Texting in Class
2/24/2011
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Suada Kolovic

Over the years, students have mastered the art of distraction during class, from daydreaming to doodling to note-passing to sleeping to the quintessential distraction these days: texting. And while texting has revolutionized the way in which we communicate, does it have a place in the classroom? A survey of students at the University of New Hampshire found high rates of texting during class and a great deal of guilt about that behavior to go along with it. The majority of students surveyed admitted they felt guilty for sending text messages in class when they were not supposed to but despite those sentiments, a whopping 80 percent said they normally send at least one text message in each of their classes.

According to the survey, which was conducted by student researchers at the UNH Whittemore School of Business and Economics, many students don’t believe that texting should be allowed in class, 49 percent felt guilty in class when it’s not allowed, 51 percent are distracted from class material when they text and 51 percent said they are prohibited from texting in up to half of their classes. The survey also showed that women were more likely to send text messages than men. "I wasn't surprised by the results, but I was surprised to see that some teachers didn't prohibit texting in their classes," said Gretchen Eastman, one of the lead student researchers on the study.

The survey looked at the texting behavior of students and researchers will present their findings at the university’s undergraduate research conference in late April. Let us know what you think. Do you feel bad about texting in class? Do u think txting in class can b distracting 4 u?

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