New Brunswick students now need to put their cellphones away during class time.
The new rules from the province went into effect at the start of the school year.
But for many in the Anglophone South School District, there are no big changes.
“All of our high schools and many of our middle schools already had cellphone policies prior to the department’s policy, some even were working with bans in place for them,” Superintendent Derek O’Brien told our newsroom.
Under the updated policy, students now have to place their phones in a designated area on silent during class time.
Phones may be allowed at times for educational reasons, but it will be at the discretion of the teacher.
O’Brien said he expects some teachers will integrate cellphone use into the classroom for educational purposes.
“We also know that it’s important during class time that students will put their cellphones aside and focus on classroom learning while they’re there,” he said.
Students who use their phones for medical reasons are still able to keep them on hand.
A recent poll by Narrative Research found that 83 per cent of New Brunswickers support a cellphone ban in classrooms.
When asked why, the prevailing reason is to remove a distraction in the learning environment, followed by mentions that a ban would encourage students to focus on their studies.
Other reasons cited include that cellphones serve no purpose in classrooms or that they are overused and an addiction risk.
Among the 13 per cent who oppose a ban, the most common reasons are that cellphones are useful in case of emergencies, that only usage abuse should be penalized instead of a blanket ban and that cellphones are great educational or research tools.
Results are from an online survey conducted between Aug. 8 and 21. As a non-probability sample, a margin of error is not applied.
