By Tytianna Wells

If you’re thinking about coming in late, text messaging, holding side conversations or playing video games during class, you had better think again.
Professors at the University of Louisville are catching on and striking back against disruptive behavior in the classroom.
Communications professor Dana Seay believes that consistent tardiness affects the flow of class.
“The two things I think are rude are coming to class late and coming to class unprepared,” said Seay.
Though this might seem harsh, Seay’s approach is working; by emphasizing punctuality, she has seen her students begins coming to class earlier.
Other professors are taking disciplinary actions on inappropriate behavior in the classroom as well.
“My biggest pet peeve is when students are sleeping with their heads on the desks,” said Maggie Wendt, a women and gender studies graduate student instructor who teaches mostly to freshmen and nontraditional students. “Usually, I don’t wake them up until the end of class and say that it’s not acceptable.”
When it comes to students bringing laptop computers to play video games and watch television shows during class,  David Brown, professor and chair of physics and astronomy department, walks around the room in an effort to deter students from participating and “to slow [the behavior] down a bit].”
Just as arriving late to a lecture can be interpreted as rude, so too can leaving class early before the day’s lecture has concluded. According to Dewey Clayton, a professor of political science, walking out of class during a lecture or presentation of a video is highly distracting.
“My role is to keep class from being disruptive,” said Clayton of the problem. “Disruption can take away from the learning environment.”
Blake Beattie, an associate professor of history, understands that issues like parking can cause a student to be late and an emergency can cause a student to leave class early. However, he recommends that students notify him of any changes in attendance. Though he is easygoing about this policy, the same cannot be said of his tolerance for communication gadgets being used in the classroom.
“I just wish they would stop texting in class,” said Beattie. “It’s distracting when teachers are trying to communicate.”
Not only are professors frustrated with these disruptive behaviors, but students are getting a taste of these annoyances as well.
“I find it incredibly rude,” said Benjamin Rudy, a freshman chemical engineering major of the behavior that he sees some of his fellow students exhibit during class.
Though these behaviors can seem rude, it seems like no one is immune to committing a faux pas. Sometimes it can be something as small as a student forgetting to turn cell phones to silent mode or off entirely before entering class.
“When it happened to me, I was really embarrassed,” said Felicia Hogan, a junior music and biology major. “Usually when someone’s phone goes off, it’s like an alarm to tell everyone else to turn off their phones.”
Rosie Washington, a senior political science major, for instance, doesn’t believe that seemingly rude behaviors by some students should be looked at quite so harshly.
“We pay to come to the university and though I think some of those actions are rude, I think they shouldn’t be blown out of proportion,” said Washington.
Of course, even professors recognize that personal lives and unforeseen circumstances can arise for students.
“Many students have children, jobs and other obligations,” said Beattie. “Sometimes you can’t do anything about these conflicting obligations, but I think everyone can do a better job at managing their time.”
Beattie also expressed that he doesn’t think that poor manners from students are widespread problems
“In general,” said Beattie, “I think that students are pretty well-mannered.”