Computational Literacies Lab

Story 02

So I'm gonna share my first phone story when I got it. So I was 13 years old, it was my birthday and I had woken up and went into the kitchen like I normally do and like at our kitchen there's like a separate dining room table that's like in the kitchen and like she like put a balloon in the chair and like decorated the kitchen and there was like I always have like a chocolate chip muffin on my birthday I don't know why just did so there's like a chocolate chip muffin and then there's like boxes over here like presents I sometimes I get to like wake up and like open presents if I get like up early enough and stuff I don't remember if my dad was there which is terrible but my mom was definitely there and I don't remember if Jackson was there he's my brother I don't know if anyone else was there and I remember like eating like I kind of woke up having a sense that I was getting one because I don't know why I just felt like I was and I like remember like opening the box and seeing like it was an Apple phone and like took it out of the box it was like that iPhone 13 no wait no it was iPhone 6 iPhone 6 it was the iPhone 6 yes because it was like the long one yeah yeah it was the iPhone 6 it was like that was my first phone the iPhone 6 and what was so cute is that okay now I kind of think my dad was there because he like you know how dads get like their OCD and they like start like setting it up for you even though you know you how to do it so he was there now I think he was there I remember turning my phone on and like you know how it's like already activated and like it already had my number and everything in it and I remember like having to set everything up and then like charging it and then as soon as it like got hooked up I got like being after being after being and they had given my phone number to my entire family so when I opened my phone all my family had already texted me happy birthday so it was like so cute for the fact that they had already like sent me chats and like I was so happy to like get the phone because I felt so loved in that moment because like family who I haven't seen like my like great uncles like from my dad's side who I haven't seen in a while like they were all texting me like happy birthday and it was like so cute okay now you guys have to ask me questions because I don't know what else to talk all right so after getting like the phone did like things did you like change like I guess I was okay I had already had like an iPod okay for like so like I had the ability to like text and call but I didn't have like service all the time so it was like a weird one where you could like only text if you were like on Wi-Fi so now like the freedom to be able to like text and call like anytime was kind of nice I definitely think like my use of at like a phone at schools and stuff definitely had increased but I was like I played sports and I so like I was constantly after school stuff so like it was nice for that aspect of like I always complained about like having to I was always the one that was like hey can I borrow your phone to text my mom like that was me like because I didn't have one and so like it was nice in that sense that like Jackson was going to high school so it was just me at middle school and like I needed to like be able to text my feet up my mom especially like to be like hey can you come pick me up or I'm staying late don't worry about me like I'm or so-and-so is gonna drive me home I'm okay so it was nice to have that aspect of like communicating without having to like ask a friend yeah for sure but I do have to say also it is an addiction I mean I was like your parents take your phone yeah so right so like I definitely have to say like I was the one that like would stay up later because you want to be on your phone and like I was constantly like on it not in a disrespectful way per se like I wasn't the one that like at the dinner table on my phone like I'm not like that but I would be like staying up later to like go on my phone which is like stupid or like like you know when you miss an assignment or something then you're like all right well you got to give me your phone you know what I mean like as like a punishment I definitely got that kind of punishment for the aspect of like oh why is this assignment late or is like what are what why are your grades slipping a little bit like then I would like yeah right exactly it was more of a punishment I don't think that having a phone I don't like in middle school like it's so so such a long time ago it seems like but really it kind of was like yeah I don't remember like six years ago yeah like I just like don't remember it being so prominent in my life but like then I don't remember a time where I didn't have my phone you know what I mean like it's so I don't know if it was positive or negative it just like it was a change that happened and everyone had one so like and I was like a later person to get my phone on my 13th like most people had already had it like so like what grade is 13 I think it was 6th grade no I swear it wasn't I swear I got my first like the eighth grade eighth grade yeah I swear I got my phone yeah so I got it late eighth grade yeah that makes sense I think it was eighth grade yeah cuz I think I had an iPod the iPhone 4 like doesn't really count it wasn't activated or anything but yeah I don't I don't know and then I got social media right after that like in high school no definitely as soon as I got my phone I downloaded social media so I do have to say I've been on social media for a while but I don't also think there's a negative to that there was a lot of drama that had happened like around phones and stuff but like I don't know I don't think I was really a part of anything the most thing that phones have bras you can gossip all the time that's totally more meet my style but you know like I don't know what's another question how do you think this story would have gone differently do you think it relates to cell phones in schools how might the story help educators okay I guess I would say my story about like it's a happy story for me at least I look back on it it's very fond I do think it has to do with schools and in I mean phones in schools because I mean after that it was like eighth grade and then I had four years of high school left and now I'm in college and like I still have my phone I bring my phone everywhere I think phones do have a place at school don't get me wrong I think the communication home especially is nice I do believe though that it is a distraction it is yeah it is it there's I I'm one that like when we're doing studio work I have to actually like set my phone like on my bed and like actually lock in and like there's like oh it teaches you though that you have to be kind of self-resilient in the fact of being disciplined yeah that's the word being disciplined with yourself because you have to like take into consideration how much power this thing holds and then deciding not to focus on it and do your work so it's also kind of empowering I think we take back the power that the folks have put it in yourself all right ending