In January, the district's largest school board said it did not intend to regulate the use of personal devices in its schools.
See related: School board has ‘no plans’ to ban phones from classrooms
“At this time, Near North District School Board has no plans to ban cellphones in classrooms or schools,” was the message from the communications department.
Much has changed in seven months. Departed Education Minister Stephen Lecce saw new cellphone and vaping rules approved, then switched portfolios while his cabinet replacement, Minister Jill Dunlop, inherited the job of overseeing one of the more drastic educational policy adjustments in recent years.
See: INSIDE THE VILLAGE: What you really need to know about school cellphone 'ban'
During a late August media conference, Dunlop spoke about the new directives as the first day of school approached for many Ontario students. “This is a culture change that’s happening in our classrooms ... I was an educator as well, in the college area, but I saw firsthand the distraction that cellphones can cause in the classroom.”
An interesting wrinkle of the cellphone ban is it may also apply to teachers and school support staff.
According to Section 10.0 of the NNDSB Code of Conduct, which governs all school community stakeholders, teachers and other school staff are "expected to model the standards of respect, civility, and responsible citizenship. This includes modelling the appropriate use of personal mobile devices. Educators are not to use personal mobile devices during instructional time, unless explicitly for work-related purposes."
There are some exceptions but the spirit of the code indicates classroom time is to be reserved for learning, not scrolling social media.
Section 7.0 states all members of the school community must not use personal mobile devices during instructional time except under the following circumstances:
- for educational purposes, as directed by an educator;
- for health and medical purposes;
- to support special education needs.
See results: VILLAGE MEDIA POLL: Parents more tolerant of phone use in schools
While teachers have been instructed to confiscate personal devices from students who flaunt the rules, who is keeping an eye on their screen time in class?
"For staff, disciplinary policies and procedures exist for addressing unacceptable behaviour," per Section 5.0 of the NNDSB Code of Conduct. "School boards are also obligated to report concerning conduct to the relevant regulatory colleges, such as the Ontario College of Teachers, the College of Early Childhood Educators, etc. under applicable legislation."
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“With their constant stream of notifications and pings, it’s no surprise to anyone that cellphones constantly grab our attention," added Dunlop. "This is why it was necessary to restrict cellphones in the classroom and enable students to restore focus on learning so they can achieve better academic outcomes.”
See: New rules on cellphones as Ontario schools reopen, critics say clarity lacking
The government insists the new rules will help combat the negative impact mobile devices, social media and vaping are having on academic achievement, mental health and physical well-being.
The new provincewide measures took effect on Sept. 1, to "directly counter the alarming rise of vaping and cellphone distractions in schools."
