(Quebec) The CAQ government defeated, on Tuesday, a motion of the Parti Québécois asking to regulate the use of cell phones in class in primary and secondary schools.
The PQ MP for Matane-Matapédia, Pascal Bérubé, who is trained as a teacher, wanted this framework to be put in place in time for the next school year.
The motion he presented at the Blue Room asked the National Assembly to worry about the harmful effects of cell phones on the concentration and motivation of students.
She noted that other jurisdictions have adopted restrictive measures regarding cell phone use in schools and observed positive effects on the socialization of students.
These measures also help reduce bullying on social media, the motion reads.
The text was presented jointly with the Liberal MNA for Saint-Laurent, Marwah Rizqy, the Solidarity MNA for Mercier, Ruba Ghazal, and the Independent MNA for Vaudreuil, Marie-Claude Nichols.
To rally this support, the PQ had to strike out the verb “prohibit” to replace it with “frame”.
The government nevertheless opposed the tabling of the motion through its deputy parliamentary leader, Mathieu Lévesque, who rose to declare: “No consent. »
Last month, 92% of the 7,000 teachers surveyed by the Federation of Teachers’ Unions (FSE) said they supported banning cellphones in the classroom, except for certain educational activities.
The president of the FSE, Josée Scalabrini, told the Quebec newspaper that teachers wanted to reduce classroom distractions and that they were increasingly concerned about being unknowingly filmed by students.
“It’s a fight,” she said. There were years when the fight was the cap in class or the gum in the mouth, now it’s the cell phone. »
Education Minister Bernard Drainville has indicated in the past that he is “open to considering” a general ban.
In 2021, during the Consultation on the health of young people and the use of screens, several experts recalled the harmful effects of screens on sight, sleep and weight.
But the screens are also good, they said. At school, they would make it possible in particular to vary teaching approaches.