Students and teachers in Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools don’t think prohibiting cellphone use in class is necessary.
A primary and secondary school ban on cellphones in classrooms began earlier this month in Quebec, but no similar ban is in the works in Nanaimo-Ladysmith, and such a ban isn’t needed, students say.
John Barsby Secondary School does have a rule that phones remain in lockers or bags in some instances. According to Grade 11 student Esme McConnell and Grade 10 students Keira Mardell and Owen Stanley, cellphones can be learning tools, and the school district needn’t pursue an outright ban.
They point to Kahoot, a learning game application, and Google Classrooms, a teaching and learning app, which can be accessed via cellphones, and said the devices are great for communicating on group projects. Cellphones are a part of everyday life, they say.
“My life revolves around a cellphone,” said Stanley. “Not because I’m addicted to it, but my job revolves around a cellphone. I’m a social media manager for lots of sports teams … that’s how I make my money.”
Mardell doesn’t think her phone affects her school work.
“I think it helps me personally, listen to music or searching up stuff when we don’t have [laptop computers],” Mardell said. “I don’t really think it’s that big of an issue for me.”
McConnell utilizes her phone for more traditional purposes.
“I use my phone mostly for communication, even at school, after school or at lunch and I do use it at home for schoolwork, because I can search how to figure out certain questions to help me with my work,” said McConnell.
Cellphones can be beneficial outside class, according to Stanley.
“A few months ago … there was a bomb threat and we were evacuated and we weren’t allowed back into the school,” he recounted. “We had to go home and there were kids that had their phones in their lockers and they weren’t able to access them and contact their parents.”
Mardell said there are cons as phones can be distracting and Stanley agrees, but added that a ban would be hard to enforce.
Greg Keller, school board chairperson, said he’s not aware of any school board motions in the works related to any ban on cellphones in classrooms, and said there would be pros and cons to such a ban. The school district realizes mobile phones can cause concern in relation to academic achievement, he said.
“There can also be impacts related to mental health and equity because not all students can afford a cellphone,” he said. “I believe that teachers in their classrooms are the ones who know their students best and they’re the ones who should be able to have the tools that they need to incorporate appropriate use of the technology, because I do think that there’s also opportunity for teachers to utilize the technology to help students in some cases.”
Both Jessica Krog-Irving, Nanaimo District Parent Advisory Committee chairperson, and Jo Cornthwaite, Nanaimo District Teachers’ Association president, said there are other pressing matters in the district and talk of a cellphone ban is a red herring.
“There are a lot of larger issues. Making a provincewide blanket policy, banning something that should probably be up to the school districts and principals and teachers, seems like it’s just something to get parents flutterpated,” said Krog-Irving.
Cornthwaite had similar thoughts.
“There are bigger issues facing public education than cellphone use right now, honestly,” she told the News Bulletin. “Adequate resources for students, class size and composition, recruitment and retention of teachers, I think those are all bigger issues.”
In a Jan. 8 press release, Kevin Falcon, B.C. United leader, reiterated his party’s desire to pursue a ban, pointing to poor student performance.
“It’s clear to parents how mobile phone usage is negatively impacting our kids’ educations … B.C. is seeing a decrease in literacy rates and education outcomes in math and English,” Falcon said. “Let’s get this done now so students’ focus can return to their studies, not their screens.”
– files from Wolf Depner, Black Press Media
