N.L. government mulling cellphone ban in middle school, high school classrooms

While textbooks, paper and pencils are back-to-school staples, there is one item teachers want to see less of in the classroom: cellphones.

The provincial government agrees. The Department of Education is drafting a new personal electronic device policy that could increase school cellphone restrictions from kindergarten to Grade 12.

Education Minister Krista Lynn Howell said a blanket policy is already in place for younger children. For K-6 students, cellphones and other personal devices aren't allowed at all.

Devices are allowed for junior high and high school students, but only for educational purposes. 

Until now, it's been up to the administration for each individual school to decide how they manage phones in the classroom. But Howell said it's time for a uniform policy for all students.

"There are particular challenges in our classrooms around the use of cellphones and personal devices," she said. "We need a policy that covers all of our schools and that will be enforced right across Newfoundland and Labrador."

Howell's idea of an ideal policy follows the lead of provinces such as Ontario and Saskatchewan, which recently implemented cellphone bans in their public school systems.

But the Education Department will consult with teachers, staff, and the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers' Association before deciding to forbid phones outright.

"Whether it's all-out ban and treating it the same as we do cigarettes or vapes, or if there's a more blended option that we can use, we're hoping to draw some of that information from our consultations," Howell said.

She said the goal is to promote a healthier learning environment. 

"It's disruptive, it's causing teachers challenges with having students pay attention. There's so much interaction between students, and there's the potential for online bullying," Howell said.

Trent Langdon, president of the NLTA, estimates that cellphones take away between 50 and 60 per cent of students' focus during the school day. 

The teachers' union supports drafting a new policy, Langdon said, but said they need to make sure it is enforceable and that the union is consulted. 

"Our administrators, our principals and assistant principals, they know the game, they're the experts on the ground. They've been dealing with this for a while. So we expect consultation and they should have a key role in this," Langdon said.

With large class sizes, teacher shortages, and violence in the classroom, Langdon worries that regulating cellphone use will only add another item to a teacher's long list of responsibilities.

"It has to be user-friendly and it has to be enforceable and there has to be significant communication with parents and guardians," he said. "It will enhance the school environment versus it becoming just a battle zone every day of 'hand over your phone,' 'hand over your phone,' 'you're interrupting.'"

For some parents, a new electronic device policy in schools is good news. Tracy Roche, a mom of two school-age children and a general practitioner at Proactive Wellness Centre, says she thinks technology has been given prioritized ahead of parenting, and now the parenting and policies are trying to catch up.

"I don't think there's any place for a cellphone in school. I think they make it harder for the teachers to do their jobs," Roche said.

"They're there to learn. And then the times that they're not learning, like recess and lunch, they're there to interact and learn those social interactions and make friends."

WATCH | This doctor and mom knows all too well the struggles with kids and cellphones:

Cellphones in classrooms are a double whammy, says this doctor and parent

3 months ago

Duration 1:05

Tracy Roche is a family physician in St. John’s and a mother. Medically speaking, she says, high use of cellphones and other screens is linked to higher rates of depression and lower rates of physical activity. And as a mother, Roche says, she knows the temptations kids face.

In her practice, Roche says she's seeing higher rates of depression, anxiety and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in younger children. She said there is a direct correlation to cellphone usage.

Cyberbullying is also common. She said kids are videotaping each other eating and using the washroom to embarrass one another. 

"They're eating and then slowing the video down and making fun of how so and so chews. Then kids don't use the bathroom at school. They don't want to eat at school," Roche said.

"I've had a couple of patients switch schools to get away from videos that were circulating, videos of normal things that every human does."

Roche believes kids aren't safe online, and it's best to revert to having no phones in the school system.

"All I see is all the negatives. So I don't think they should be there," she said.

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