Teachers weigh in on new Ontario classroom cellphone ban

New rules around cellphone restrictions in Ontario classrooms are now underway. It may still be in its early stages, but some educators say more time is needed to adjust to the cultural shift.

CityNews spoke with some teachers about how they feel about the policy. Claudine Tyrell, the principal at Humberside Collegiate in Toronto, said an assembly was held for all high school students to explain the technological adjustment.

“I said to staff today the expectation is that they’re building relationships with students, explaining the why and we’re hoping that we don’t have referrals to the office.”

Tyrell added that just because there is an expectation to build relationships, it doesn’t mean that students can get away with not following the rules.

“If we have a particular student where there is a frequency, where it’s Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday where it still continues, then there needs to be additional conversations.”

Pav Wander and Chey Cheney are two grade 8 teachers in Toronto, and they say there hasn’t been any trouble in the classroom yet.

“I haven’t had any pushback so from students so far, they have been keeping them sort of out of sight,” said Wander.

“No real pushback. I don’t think students use it. It’s so common and natural to grab it,” said Cheney.

The teachers maintain that if they need to enforce the rule, it can’t always be with a blanket approach.

“The office doesn’t have the capacity to deal with that behaviour all the time, that’s really unrealistic to think, ‘Oh I’m having trouble in the class, I’m going to send you to the office.’ As a teacher, you want to be really comfortable to handle it,” said Cheney.

There’s also been conversations on how these devices will be stored, given teachers concerns’ that they could be on the hook for any damaged phones. One method being used involves paper bags.

“It’s to remain on the desk,” said Tyrell. “And that just means if the student makes an attempt to reach for it again, you will hear the noise of the paper bag. We have some other teachers that have gotten shoe displays, and so that’s where the devices will go.” 

The main message educators want to students to take away: focus on the classroom, not on the cellphone.

“We are hoping that as the school year progresses, we continue to see the support that we have verbally seen from all the different parties that are involved,” said Wander.

“It’s not to say, ‘Ha ha, you can’t have your phone with you,’ it’s to improve learning,” said Tyrell.