A pleading letter

I am very passionate about the following topic I am going to discuss, but I am going to try to be calm and make sense.


Dear people-who-are-on-their-computers-phones-or-iPads-who-aren't-typing-notes-in-class,

You are distracting to the students around you. Even when you try to be sly, it is easy to tell when you are not typing up notes during a lecture. When you stare super focused at your device, you're clearly not paying attention in class. Professors, teachers, and speakers spend a lot of time preparing lectures. They spend their lives studying the subject(s) they teach and have a goal to teach you and to help you learn what they have been able to learn. They commit a large part of their time to figuring out how to best communicate to you, and you shun them by ignoring them and not giving them your attention.

I understand how easy it is to not be taking notes on your computer. To surfing the internet, checking your email, sending emails, looking at facebook, reading articles, playing solitaire and whatever else. I have been guilty of doing a couple of these things in the past on a couple of occasions, but I regret it and have determined not to do it ever again. Remove the temptation if you have to. Notebooks cost a matter of a few dollars, and could help you to show more respect, and not distract others.

You can justify your non-class related actions all you want. Keeping yourself awake or whatever. However, you cannot justify away the distraction you are to everyone around you, and the inattentiveness you show to a teacher.

How would you feel, if you were standing in front of a group of people, large or small, and only 5% of them were actually looking at you and seemed to care about what you were saying? Wouldn't that bother you? Wouldn't that make you feel sad? Wouldn't you begin to wonder if you should continue to bother trying to communicate to groups of people?

Thank goodness for the teachers and professors in the world. Thank goodness there are people willing to take the time to teach others and to spread their knowledge. Thank goodness they care enough about others to promote learning by dedicating their lives to understanding how to teach people.

No, teachers are not perfect, and no, we may not like every single teacher we have had or will have. But that does not make it okay to be rude and inconsiderate. They still deserve respect and consideration, as do your classmates. If you need to take care of something ACTUALLY REALLY IMPORTANT and time-sensitive, do so as quickly as you can. And if you can't do it quickly, step out swiftly and respectfully.

Please and thank you,
A student who cares about learning and has been frustrated by distractions many times