Last Spring I always sat in the back of Dr. Cox’s Theology
class. Like many of the professors who allow laptops in class, Dr. Cox asks
students to disable the wireless receivers on their laptops during his class. On
any given day, six of the eight laptop users g-talked incessantly and surfed
the web.
I once privately confronted Jacob (name changed), who surfed
and g-talked during every class. He accepted my admonition with a polite smile and
didn’t say much. The next class he was g-talking and surfing just as much as
ever.
I recently gtalked Jacob to ask him about his disregard for
professors’ no-Internet policies.
“Hang on one sec,” he said, “I have to run to class actually.
Can we pick this up in 5 minutes?”
Jacob told me he feels that his violation of his professors’
Internet policies is justified because he mostly uses the Internet for
class-related pursuits, such as collaborating with a friend via gtalk to
assemble their dream Hollywood cast for an adaptation of “The Odyssey.”
He said he believes that a no-Internet policy is only intended to curb behavior
such as watching movies on Netflix during class, so he feels comfortable
checking his email and Facebook during class.
“If I was specifically asked to not do so, I'd stop in a heartbeat,” he said.
Wait. There is little room for ambiguity in a professor’s “turn
off your wireless in class” directive.
Melissa agrees that there is nothing ambiguous about a no
internet policy.
“There's really no good rationale for it, other
than not wanting to have to pay attention for the whole class,” she said.
Melissa said
she realizes that her Internet use is directly defiant of her professor’s
policy, but she doesn’t feel a need to reform her ways.
“I guess I kind
of view it as driving over the speed limit. Technically it's wrong, but not bad
enough to outweigh the benefits,” she said.
I too, have been among the ranks of guilty g-talkers and
selfish surfers. Even after the Lord convicted me of my sinful disrespect, I
often lost my resolve, so I stopped bringing my computer to class.
When I discussed this with my friend Catherine, she agreed
that the Internet can be a “huge temptation” during class, especially for
instant messaging.
“Regardless
of how incredible your professor is, there are always times when the class will
feel boring, you will be tired, distracted, or otherwise disinterested,” she
said.
Catherine
said she finds it easy to rationalize her use of gtalk as a means of investing
in her fellow believers.
“This
is one reason I do not bring my computer to class,” she said. “I am a genius at
rationalizing selfish, lazy, disrespectful, and altogether foolish behaviors.
When I am in class, it is my duty to honor my professor, especially when it is difficult, because
that is when my heart is really tested.”
Let’s face it. Whatever your excuse, whatever my excuse,
deliberately disobeying your professor is wrong. Although students like Melissa
dismiss their disregard of Internet use policies as minor infractions, the
little things do matter. Christ told His disciples, “One who is faithful in a very little
is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also
dishonest in much,” (Luke 16:10-11) On a very basic level,
failure to comply with a professor’s Internet-use policy is purely selfish.
Even when a student uses the Internet is used for academic purposes during
class, his disregard for professor’s policy implies that he considers his own
desires superior to the professor’s wishes.
One student explained, “Surfing in class is the moral
equivalent of looking at porn in your dorm room. Perhaps one is in fact more
heinous than the other, but it’s not that one is a sin and one is a bad idea.
They’re both sins. They’re both heinous in the sight of God.”
If we cannot be faithful to respect our professors, how can
we be faithful to revere the Word of the Lord? How can we change the nation and
shape the culture if we cannot submit to our professors? We must begin with our
own hearts, with our attitudes towards our professors.
I think Catherine said it best, “When we are in the
classroom, what we do on the computer shouldn't be about us.”
