Cellphones can no longer be used in Manitoba classrooms now that a provincial ban is in effect, and though the restrictions may be new to some, others say they’ve already seen students become more involved in school after putting their phones away.
Division Scolaire Franco-Manitobaine superintendent Alain Laberge says he thinks the new rules, set out by the province in August, were inspired by a cellphone ban introduced at his division last year, as they are virtually the same restrictions for both clusters of students.
Laberge says students have become more “involved in their own education” over the last year, using their free time at the end of class to finish up homework or read.
“School is where we teach, socialize [and] learn, and this was not feasible with students being on their cellphone,” Laberge told CBC News.
“We thought, like, ‘Is it such a big deal just to ban cellphones during class time?’ And the answer was no. I mean, it’s not the end of the world.”
He says the division introduced its own ban because teachers were reporting that phone calls, games and texts had been disrupting their classrooms. There were also concerns about students using cellphone data, which does not restrict certain websites or apps like the school’s internet does.
In an Aug. 15 letter, Education Minister Nello Altomare directed leaders of Manitoba’s publicly-funded grade schools to prohibit students from kindergarten to Grade 8 from using their cellphones at all during school hours starting this fall.
Students in grades 9 to 12 are only allowed to use the devices during lunch and other breaks, Altomare says in the letter.
The new provincewide ban puts all Manitoba schools on a level playing field, according to Laberge, as some parents warned they would pull their children out of the division when its ban was initially put in place.
Other parents had concerns that the ban would hinder contact with their children, but he says that calling school offices works just as fine.
“It puts things in perspective, that we lived a life that was very good before cellphones,” he said.
Some bans go beyond cellphones
Manitoba was the last western Canadian province to introduce a cellphone ban for K-12 students. Saskatchewan announced a policy the week before, following announcements in Alberta, B.C., Quebec, Ontario and Nova Scotia.
Altomare’s letter says schools must instruct staff about their use of cellphones in the classroom as well.
The guidelines include several exceptions, allowing in-class phone use for educational purposes if directed by teachers, and for students with certain medical and diverse learning needs.
Although the province’s new rules target only cellphones, some school divisions are broadening their technology bans.
Winnipeg’s Pembina Trails School Division says its ban applies to “any piece of lightweight electronically powered equipment,” including MP3 players, e-readers, smart watches and small electronic toys, according to a Friday notice.
Manitoba’s largest school division, the Winnipeg School Division, says its ban will also extend beyond cellphones, applying to smart watches, smart glasses and tablets.
In a letter sent to parents on Friday, WSD superintendent Matt Henderson says kindergarten to Grade 8 students must leave their cellphones at home, in a locker, or in designated areas such as a phone hotel, where students leave their phone during class time.
Students from Grade 9 to 12 must leave their cellphones in their backpacks and not have them visible during class, the letter states. School staff are also expected not to use their cellphones in front of students.
“These phones, and particularly the addictive nature of the [social media] apps, are disrupting learning. They’re disrupting development [and] mental health,” Henderson told host Marcy Markusa during an Aug. 27 interview with CBC Manitoba’s Information Radio.
“We have to put an immediate stop to the harm.”
Henderson’s letter says the division purchased 1,600 devices over the summer because it wants to allow students to use technology to create, rather than consume.
The letter doesn’t specify which devices were purchased or how they’ll be used, but Henderson says the division wants to balance student access to “state-of-the art technology” while ensuring screen time limits.
“You can’t just take these addictive devices out of the hands of kids and not replace it with something,” he told Markusa.
‘Better’ ways to use technology
While the classroom cellphone bans are in effect starting Sept. 1, Altomare’s letter says school divisions have until Nov. 1 to submit finalized policies.
The provincial directive does not outline whether schools are supposed to confiscate cellphones from non-compliant students, or issue punishments, but Western School Division superintendent Stephen Ross says their policy aims to avoid confrontations between staff and students.
“If devices are not relinquished, then those kids will be dealt with at the office…. and they will work that out with the family,” Ross told CBC News.
The division’s recently revised use of technology policy says all cellphones must be turned off once students in kindergarten to Grade 8 enter school premises, and they cannot be activated during the school day. Grade 9 to 12 students cannot use the devices in class unless directed by a teacher.
Ross says he had all principals with his division, which is located in Morden, Man., put their phones away for an entire meeting leading up to the new school year.
“That’s a big change for them, right? But it was great because everybody was more present in the meeting,” he said. “That’s what we’re hoping to have happen in classrooms as well.”
Laberge says it’s up to individual teachers in the Franco-Manitobaine division as to where students leave their phones, adding that their ban also applies to earbuds to stop students from connecting to their phones while they are stored away.
Laberge’s division is set to pilot further restrictions this school year that target computer usage for elementary and middle school students. It’s also directing teachers to limit screen time to no more than an hour a day while in the classroom, he said.
The restrictions are not meant to discourage media literacy, as teachers will be using blackboard technology in classrooms, said Laberge. He sees the rules as a way to limit uses of technology that conflict with learning.
“We’re still [using] technology, but we’re just using it in a better way, we think,” he said.
“There’s nothing wrong with using a book, going to the library [or] using a computer either.… but we need a balance, and this is what we based our new policies on.”