Cellphone ban in schools!

[Dion]

Should have happened sooner.

[Ashartus]

We got our kids old phones with the free Shaw plans when they started taking Calgary Transit to/from school, allowed them to call if something went wrong, check transit schedules, use Google Maps etc. In high school my oldest has had some expectation of having a device in class - teachers asking students to look something up etc. However I think the Ontario approach is probably reasonable - no use in class for younger grades, and at older grades only when explicitly requested by the teacher.

[Cappy]

As someone without kids, and therefore no idea that phones were allowed in the classroom previously (and currently) my response is:

WTF? how were phones even allowed in the classroom to begin with? when did this happen? how hasn't this been dealt with in the last 20 years?

[Tron_fdc]

What's the argument to have a phone in class in Junior-Senior high? My kids are in private school and all phones are put in a bin at the office before class starts. They get them at lunch and again at the end of the day. They get in huge #### if they get caught with a phone outside those times.

If you need to talk to your kid you can call the school.

Kids in elementary don't need phones. No idea why they would have one. And kindergarten? They can't even spell their own names yet. Do kids that young ACTUALLY have them? That's crazy talk to me.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

Teaching kids digital literacy and responsible use is much more important than bans.

They literally use the devices to get lessons, assignments and notes!

(Parent of 2 teenagers)

Digital literacy is great to strive for, but frankly at this point it seems more like throwing opiates in your kids' hands and telling your friends that teaching them responsible use is more important than bans.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by Cappy

As someone without kids, and therefore no idea that phones were allowed in the classroom previously (and currently) my response is:

WTF? how were phones even allowed in the classroom to begin with? when did this happen? how hasn't this been dealt with in the last 20 years?

Yeah I graduated 14 years ago and phones were not allowed then, was surprised to hear that's not the case still. Although I guess I shouldn't be surprised, just never thought about it

[Fuzz]

Hell, I remember having graphing calculators banned becasue we'd program games into them.

[Amethyst]

The "freedom" party sure loves micromanaging details of other people's lives. I'm not in favour of phones in class, but the teachers/ schools can set the policy. We don't need Dani dictating from on high how things should be done.

[Whynotnow]

Originally Posted by Amethyst

The "freedom" party sure loves micromanaging details of other people's lives. I'm not in favour of phones in class, but the teachers/ schools can set the policy. We don't need Dani dictating from on high how things should be done.

I do not like her, or her government, but schools and boards have set zero policies. Likely out of fear. My kid can surf through an entire class if he wants and sounds like lots of kids do and the teacher won’t say anything. That’s high school. My kid in junior high it’s a strict ban, if seen it’s gone.

It’s too inconsistent and we are learning enough about the impacts here that this is a reasonable approach. I do note the concerns about teaching responsible use, but I don’t think there’s a happy medium here.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Amethyst

The "freedom" party sure loves micromanaging details of other people's lives. I'm not in favour of phones in class, but the teachers/ schools can set the policy. We don't need Dani dictating from on high how things should be done.

Damn UCP taking away our freedoms! First they took away my ability to use my phone while driving and now they are taking away my kid's phones. Fire up the trucks my friends, it is convoy time!

[nik-]

Originally Posted by fuzz

hell, i remember having graphing calculators banned becasue we'd program games into them.

80085

[malcolmk14]

Rules are great but we already have rules and kids ignore them. We are truly powerless.

What’s the consequence if a kid brings a phone to class anyway? Riddle me that.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by malcolmk14

Rules are great but we already have rules and kids ignore them. We are truly powerless.

What’s the consequence if a kid brings a phone to class anyway? Riddle me that.

You need those hard to remove stickers Russians put on vehicles driving poorly.

[Whynotnow]

Originally Posted by malcolmk14

Rules are great but we already have rules and kids ignore them. We are truly powerless.

What’s the consequence if a kid brings a phone to class anyway? Riddle me that.

At my kids school where they aren’t allowed the teacher confiscates it, takes it to the office. First offence the kid goes to get it at the end of the day. Second and onward offences the parent gets the pleasure of retrieving the device.

[Amethyst]

Originally Posted by Whynotnow

I do not like her, or her government, but schools and boards have set zero policies. Likely out of fear. My kid can surf through an entire class if he wants and sounds like lots of kids do and the teacher won’t say anything. That’s high school. My kid in junior high it’s a strict ban, if seen it’s gone.

It’s too inconsistent and we are learning enough about the impacts here that this is a reasonable approach. I do note the concerns about teaching responsible use, but I don’t think there’s a happy medium here.

If they are afraid to set policies, what makes you think they won't be afraid to enforce this?

[Whynotnow]

Originally Posted by Amethyst

If they are afraid to set policies, what makes you think they won't be afraid to enforce this?

If I had to guess they will just say we don’t make these rules, we have to follow them. We will see, it might give some extra teeth. The fact that school boards abdicated to the admins, who basically abdicated to the teacher was always a bit weird to me. I think we have some teachers in here who know a lot more from that side, I can only speak from the parent side.

[RogerWilco]

Originally Posted by Whynotnow

I do not like her, or her government, but schools and boards have set zero policies. Likely out of fear. My kid can surf through an entire class if he wants and sounds like lots of kids do and the teacher won’t say anything. That’s high school. My kid in junior high it’s a strict ban, if seen it’s gone.

It’s too inconsistent and we are learning enough about the impacts here that this is a reasonable approach. I do note the concerns about teaching responsible use, but I don’t think there’s a happy medium here.

My daughter's Calgary public school junior high has banned them. So not sure what is holding other schools back?

[RogerWilco]

Originally Posted by malcolmk14

Rules are great but we already have rules and kids ignore them. We are truly powerless.

What’s the consequence if a kid brings a phone to class anyway? Riddle me that.

I don't know your situation, but my teens are pretty much 100% financially dependent upon me and my wife. So uh, there is a lot we can do.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

You need those hard to remove stickers Russians put on vehicles driving poorly.

And put them on the kid's face?

[malcolmk14]

Originally Posted by Whynotnow

At my kids school where they aren’t allowed the teacher confiscates it, takes it to the office. First offence the kid goes to get it at the end of the day. Second and onward offences the parent gets the pleasure of retrieving the device.

Imagine a scenario where a student outright refuses to give it up and a teacher is left with a choice of physically overpowering a pre-teen or teenager to take their phone away or move on with their job and teach the 30 other kids in the room.

I know as a 210 pound man if a 12 year old in my class is refusing to give me something I am not risking my safety or my job to lay my hands on them to physically take it.

Or a scenario where the teacher does take the phone and puts it in the office and an irate parent comes to the school at the end of the day accusing the teacher of forcefully taking their child's personal property.

Originally Posted by RogerWilco

I don't know your situation, but my teens are pretty much 100% financially dependent upon me and my wife. So uh, there is a lot we can do.

It is certainly helpful when parents are supportive of teachers and on board with consequences. The number of parents who would rather not lay down boundaries and consequences for their kids is growing rapidly. You can imagine it's not a stretch to say that kids who are chronically disrupting class and ignoring rules around phone use are not the ones with the strongest boundaries in place at home.

I think this move by the government is a good one, as it sets clear top-down expectations around phone use. We can now point to legislation to force kids to keep their phones away.