Photo via Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Officials with the Kamloops-Thompson School District are working to comply with a new ministerial order that will restrict the use of cellphones in schools starting with the upcoming school year in September.
Superintendent Rhonda Nixon says preparation the Kamloops-Thompson School District formed a cell phone committee which then reviewed all policies and procedures that are in place in elementary and secondary schools, in preparation for the new ministerial order takes effect July 1.
“What we’ve discovered is that the four key guidelines are already fairly well in place and the practices we have are also well known by parents,” Nixon said on NL Mornings.
“So I don’t think it was extreme for us, but certainly we’re taking the opportunity to stop and consult on what already exists as well as the revisions we made to the district’s student code of conduct.”
Nixon says SD73 schools have been dealing with cell phone concerns since the devices became popular. Given the province’s move, it is now making some subtle tweaks to current policies while ensuring that schools are aligned with the policy.
“If you look at what our secondary schools have in place in their handbooks, you’ll see they’ve already consulted with their parent advisory councils. They’ve consulted with staff and they had something that’s been written that students understand,” Nixon said.
“You’re not using your cellphone in class, taking calls in class, using it for social media. All of those various pieces that are quite obvious.”
In a statement, B.C.’s Education Minister Rachna Singh said the government would work with school districts to make sure that policies that restrict classroom cellphone use are in place by September.
“There also is a time and a place for cellphones, including when they support student accessibility purposes,” Singh said, noting cellphones can distract children from “focused learning” in school.
“By learning in a safe school environment how to use their cellphones responsibly and respectfully, including when to put them away, students will be better able to develop healthy habits around technology and social media use in their everyday lives.”
Nixon says starting this week, June 17, a survey will be going out to parents across the Kamloops-Thompson School District so they can provide their input on a cell phone policy.
She also says SD73 has an Educational Technology Coordinator on staff, who has been working on how to regulate cellphone use among students long before the province came down with the ministerial order.
“She has done so much good professional learning when it comes to online safety, so in terms of how to use your phone properly both at home and at school,” Nixon said.
“And so in addition to our practices that we have in schools, we also had a lot of parent education and we’ve had a lot of opportunity to explore what is good use of a personal digital device.”
