Pay Attention!

Remember how much fun it was when your sixth grade teacher angrily told you to pay attention for the fifth time?

Well now, in your mid-twenties or later, you can have that same experience at the University of Chicago Law School. Though UChicago’s students are old enough to drive a car, buy alcohol, or go to war, apparently they‘re not quite mature enough to decide whether to use laptops during lecture. Consequently, the Law School administration has swooped in and banned Internet use in most classrooms by disabling their wireless networks.

While the Harvard Law School has considered such a move in the past, professors ultimately rejected the proposed change, finding it overly paternalistic. We hope it stays that way—both at HLS and other Harvard schools.

Internet use in classrooms is undeniably distracting; It’s hard to imagine that students who are perusing sports scores or busily Gchatting with friends instead of paying attention to the professor are fully comprehending lecture. At times, this effect can even spread outward to others, especially in classes where participation is required.

Internet use in class, however, is just one of the many bad habits that can hinder academic performance—from dozing off to doodling, surfing the Net is one amongst the many unproductive student behaviors. Students’ learning experiences are undeniably affected by their activities outside the classroom—from partying through the night or to hitting the snooze button instead of making it to a 9 a.m. lecture. Surely, you could get more out of class by not watching “Pleasureman Gunther” videos on YouTube during section, but then again it might also help if you did all the reading.

A student’s educational experience is determined by and large by the wide range of choices that he or she makes about how to engage with their academic material. Given that collegiate and graduate students are adults, schools must recognize that these choices should be made without the paternalist intervention of the administration. An important aspect of maturity is learning to balance work and distractions, and by the time someone has made it to Harvard College or the University of Chicago Law School, he should be left to find that balance for himself.

Surely, it’s troubling that many Harvard undergraduates don’t seem to take their academic experiences seriously, but it’s even more disconcerting to see overzealous administrators attempting to forcefully compel interest and attention.