(Montreal) Quebec’s new directive banning cell phones in classrooms will come into force after the holiday break, making the province the second to implement such a measure, after Ontario.
The directive, which aims to reduce distractions in the classroom, comes into force on December 31.
It applies to public sector primary and secondary schools, but it gives teachers the flexibility to let students use their phones for specific educational purposes.
Many Quebec schools had already adopted rules limiting the use of cell phones in class before Education Minister Bernard Drainville introduced the ban in August.
However, some children’s advocates believe that it is in their best interests to make the restrictions as severe as possible.
A few days before the Legault government’s announcement, Étienne Bergeron, a high school teacher in Warwick, in Center-du-Québec, launched a petition asking the government to ban cell phones everywhere on school grounds.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The teacher Étienne Bergeron
In an interview, Mr. Bergeron said he would have gone much further, comparing his petition to what Quebec ultimately decided to do.
He would have liked to see all personal devices banned in schools, “even in hallways, public spaces, libraries, everywhere.”
According to him, if a teacher wants his students to use a cell phone for educational purposes, it must be well defined.
Mr. Bergeron says he is not opposed to technology. He runs his school’s creative lab and teaches students programming, music, and video game design.
The teacher specifies, however, that his lessons use digital tools to develop the mind, and not to surf online without a specific goal.
“The reality is that when young people are on their phones, they are on TikTok, they play games,” mentions Mr. Bergeron. I am convinced that it is not the mission of Quebec schools to leave our young people in front of these devices which literally make them antisocial. »
According to the Quebec Ministry of Education, all schools must have a policy limiting the use of cell phones in class by December 31. It will be up to each school service center (CSS) to provide sanctions for students who do not respect the rules.
Some CSS, including that of Montreal as well as the English Montreal school board, have for some time put in place rules prohibiting the use of cell phones in class outside of authorized courses.
The example of Ontario
In Ontario, teachers’ unions deplore that the ban imposed by the province in 2019 is not respected and that cell phones are regularly present in classrooms.
At the Toronto District School Board – Canada’s largest school board – chair Rachel Chernos Lin introduced a motion to revisit the issue in January and develop a tough new cellphone ban policy.
“I would like there to be something that had a little bite,” said M.me Chernos Lin. But ultimately, I hope we create a culture around cell phone use that is different from what we know today. »
A professor at the University of Ottawa’s faculty of education, Joel Westheimer, is not surprised that the Toronto school board wants to reopen the debate, because he believes that Ontario’s rule is “extremely flawed because that it was not drafted in such a way that it actually applied to the entire province.”
“Very positive results” elsewhere
The issue of cell phones has come to the fore since a UNESCO report concluded in July that they could disrupt learning. Mr. Drainville said the report spurred him to action.
Several countries have gone further than Quebec and Ontario. In 2018, France banned phones in schoolyards for those under 15, while China banned phones for schoolchildren in 2021.
The British government announced in October that it would publish guidelines to help school leaders who want to ban phones in schools, adding that its measure would be in line with similar bans in Italy and Portugal.
“Many jurisdictions around the world have implemented cell phone bans and have seen very positive results. Students are less distracted, they are more engaged, and we have even seen academic progress and a reduction in loneliness,” argues Mr. Westheimer.
The president of the Federation of Parents’ Committees of Quebec, Mélanie Laviolette, welcomes these rules.
“What we hope is that our children are in the best possible position to learn, so not having TikTok at our fingertips is a good thing,” maintains Mme The violet.
The director of the Association of Anglophone Parents’ Committees, Katherine Korakakis, called the government’s decision a “missed opportunity” that avoids addressing issues such as technology addiction, media literacy or fake news and instead focuses on punitive measures.
“I think lessons on digital citizenship, technology use, addiction and those types of topics with students would have a much bigger impact than taking away a phone,” she says.