Classroom cellphone ban dials up confusion

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on August 29, 2024.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com

With children going back to school next week and in some cases already back in the classroom, the cellphone ban announced in June by the Alberta government will be effective Sept. 1 but there is some confusion about the implementation, says Alberta Teachers Association president Jason Schilling.

After a survey conducted earlier this year that saw more than 68,000 parents, teachers and principals provide their input on cellphone use in schools, Minister of Education Demetrios Nicolaides announced that a cellphone ban in schools across the province will be imposed, during a press conference on June 17.  

 “Effective for the 2024-2025 school year starting this September and August in some cases, students will no longer be permitted to use personal mobile devices during class time and I’m further announcing that access to social media sites in schools will be restricted,” said Nicolaides.

The Minister said he was confident that these restrictions will reduce distractions, maximize learning time, support student mental health and reduce opportunities for cyber bullying.

 “Personal mobile devices include cell phones, smartphones, smartwatches, headphones, and other personal electronic devices. There will be a few situations when students can use a phone during class time,” said Nicolaides.

 He specified the exceptions will apply if a student needs their personal mobile devices for medical or health reasons, to support special learning needs or if directed by a teacher or any other reason as determined by a principle on a case-by-case basis.

Schilling says the intent of the policy and the policy itself matches association policy, but they are confused about the implementation.

“If a school board doesn’t already have a cell phone policy in place, and many do, the Minister’s order says it starts Sept. 1, but school boards don’t have to have their policies and procedures in place until Jan. 1, so there’s a bit of grey time there that my colleagues are asking questions about,” said Schilling.

He said this is confusing to his colleagues and they are also sharing their concerns on how they are supposed to implement the policy itself and carry it out.

“The confusion that teachers, students and parents have is if they’re at a school where the school board doesn’t have policies in place, the school board have until Jan. 1 to have their policies in place, but the ministerial order comes in effect Sept. 1, that is in fact the rule,” said Schilling.

 He said the Minister’s order allows teachers to make the determination to use cellphones during class otherwise they need to be turned off during class time unless needed for medical reasons. Which makes the implementation of the policy more confusing for those working in a school with no policy in place at the beginning of the school year.

Schilling said that another concern teachers are raising about the implementation of the policy is their responsibility of devices once they are taken away among other potential problems.

“Teachers are in support of the policy, but they are concerned about the implementation. The policing of the rules, if they take a student cell phone away are they responsible for that phone? What if it gets damaged or lost? And there is also concern about potential conflicts that it can have between students and parents,” said Schilling.

He said a policy like this requires time to be talked about, explained and implemented as there are multiple parties involved like students, teachers, parents and other school and school board staff.

“Schools are starting this week and there’s been no groundwork done in some areas with parents and students in the community as to why we’re doing it and that’s going to be a problem in some spots,” said Schilling.

 He said the announcement came out in June shortly before summer holidays and there was no time to talk about it as teachers and everyone else went on holidays, as they deserved, and now the school year is about to begin and they are expected to implement a cellphone ban policy without having the time to prepare on how to implement it.

“School is starting and this policy is already in place and some schools might be scrambling to get their own procedures and stuff put into place so that people understand how it’s going to work,” said Schilling.

He said many have raised concerns about the rushed nature of the policy, as a way to distract from bigger issues related to education.

“The increase in class sizes and the lack of funding that we are seeing in our province is a big concern and sometimes I question when policies like this are announced without a lot of forethought to it, that they are being used as a distraction from some of the real issues we are seeing in education,” said Schilling.