Sweeping cellphone ban in N.L. schools could take effect in January
Proposal open to public input until Dec. 6, says education minister
Students across Newfoundland and Labrador might be seeing their phones a lot less when they head back to school in January.
The province's Education Department announced Wednesday a proposal to update its Personal Electronic Devices Policy, which will almost entirely wipe out screen time for students from kindergarten to Grade 12.
"We're taking an approach with cellphones right now, similarly to what we've done with vaping and cigarette usage," said Education Minister Krista Lynn Howell told reporters on Wednesday.
"We recognize that there are certainly health implications, mental health in particular, with the usage of these electronic devices, so we don't want to see them in our school day."
According to the proposed policy, available on the NLSchools website, the devices include phones, laptops, smart watches, smart music players, earbuds and gaming devices, with the exception for laptops and tablets used for instructional purposes.
A full ban of cellphones has already been in place in other provinces, such as Ontario and Quebec, and also in some schools in the province.
The current policy doesn't allow students in grades K-6 to bring the devices, and the proposed changes will include junior and high school students, who will be "encouraged" to leave their phones at home, Howell said.
She acknowledged students might need their phones for commitments outside of school, like for work.
But during school, the devices would be in silent mode or turned off and put away — and not to be carried on the body such as in a jacket — during all school hours.
The policy would cover all classrooms and include lunch break and recess.
Exceptions will be made for students who need their devices for medical reasons, she said.
The policy also applies to teachers and volunteers when they are outside of staff rooms and offices, as well as to teachers working in empty classrooms.
But the policy is not yet set in stone. The proposal is currently open to public feedback until Dec. 6, she says, with the aim of implementing the revised policy when classes resume.
"We want to have as much feedback as possible," she said.
"Hear from our teachers, our staff, our students and parents … because it is going to be the responsibility of all of us to enforce this policy."
Enforcing the policy
According to the draft policy, the consequences to students not abiding by it is to inform their parents and in some cases to take the device and only return it with a parent present.
Trent Langdon, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers' Association, says for the policy to work, teachers will need the backing of the department and the school district.
"This cannot be a workload issue for our members," he told CBC News. "If a student totally refuses to hand over their phone and then it becomes a discipline issue … the policy needs to have some teeth.
"We need to ensure the districts will step in and and clarify with families and take the lead."
He says students' use of cellphones and smart devices has been a longtime issue. Teachers say phone use impedes students' focus, reading and math scores and their overall engagement in school.
"There is a time and place for learning, and 100 per cent access to a cellphone is not always necessary," he said.
"We need to come back around to respecting the learning environment."
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