(Cam Lee/northeastNOW)

By Cam Lee

Digital distractions

NESD in process of developing a cellphone policy

Jun 19, 2024 | 5:29 PM

The North East School Division (NESD) is looking to develop a comprehensive policy on cellphones in the classroom.

The division released the results of a survey of teachers and administration on cellphone use, with 108 responses logged.

Director of Education Stacy Lair told northeastNOW while the survey showed elementary school students haven’t had major issues with cellphone use in class, but middle years students use their cellphones more often, and have issues with regulating usage.

“Cellphones are very addictive for adults, never mind what they do in the hands of students,” Lair explained. “Teaching them how to manage those devices in a healthy way is really important and something that the policy to be able to support and improve on in our schools.”

Lair said they’re in the policy development phase and will continue to do research to find out the best way to form a personal device policy, from cellphones to smart watches and more. Volunteers with schools that have practices working for them have also come forward to provide feedback. Lair said the division will also look to findings from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). Studies show that ninety-one per cent of students from Grades 7 through 12 are on their devices for five hours or more per day.

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Lair said the rationale for the policy is an effort to improve student wellbeing by stopping the use of social media interactions during the school day, unless it applies to focusing on learning. Another reason is to maximize time for growth by minimizing digital distractions. Lair said a student focused on learning that is suddenly distracted could take as many as 20 minutes to return to a deep level of thinking. The distraction could be as minimal as a buzzing notification on their smart watch or cellphone.

She said the division needs to find out “what we need to do to balance out the need for cellphone use in an education context with making sure they’re not a digital distraction to that level, and making sure that we have well-being in hand and giving them some phone-free time for their brains.”

The concept of “using to learn, and learning to use,” are important for the division, Lair said. The division will also be reaching out to School Community Councils (SCCs) for their help on the policy and sharing the ‘why’ when the policy is developed.

According to the survey, 74 per cent of respondents said cellphones have a very negative or somewhat negative impact on student academic performance. Over 93 per cent of respondents said personal devices have had a very or somewhat negative impact on the social interactions of students.

The survey said the results “suggest a strong preference for restricting personal device use in schools, with many advocating for complete bans or strict limitations. The recommendations emphasize the need for consistent enforcement, parental involvement, and clear guidelines to ensure devices are used appropriately and do not interfere with learning and social interactions.”

Governments in B.C., Ontario, Quebec, and now Alberta have announced or implemented bans on cellphones in schools, due largely to the negative effect they can have on learning.

Lair said the division would like to create “some good policy from the ground up”, working with teachers, communities and SCCs to find something that works. She would prefer to create a policy from a school perspective “and across the school division that really works in the northeast and is a strength for us.

The Ministry of Education was contacted by northeastNOW to ask whether the Government of Saskatchewan is considering a cellphone ban.

Executive Director of Communications and Sector Relations Angela Hall said the following via e-mail:

“The Ministry of Education is aware of and is still reviewing the details of new cellphone policies in schools that have been recently implemented in some other provinces, such as Alberta and Ontario.”

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Cam.lee@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @northeastNOW_SK