You may have heard that starting in September of this year (2024) the use of cell phones will be banned in the classroom. Many people may think that this action by the Ministry of Education should have been done a long time ago but wait until you hear my perspective on phone usage in the classroom from a grade 8 student. In this blog, that is what I will be informing you about.
Now, personally, I don’t bring my phone to school in fact, I did not even own a phone until this past January but many of my friends have had phones since grade 5 or 6 so they have grown very attached to them and they bring their phones everywhere they go.
I think that the rise of Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram, and other social media platforms causes this phone attachment even more because in class if you have your phone on you and you receive a notification or message, you might sometimes feel eager to check it (that is why I leave my phone at home). One of my friends even sleeps beside her phone and checks it every time it vibrates and I don’t think that she is the only one that does that- I can assume that some of my classmates and other teens do the same thing due to the fact that their phone addiction is just that bad. I don’t even sleep with my phone in my room I leave my phone in the living room alongside both of my parent’s flip phones. After all, teens do need 8-10 hours of sleep every night.
Anyways, back to the point of the Blog: Do I think that banning cell phones in the classroom is a good or bad idea? Well, in some cases having a cell phone on you can be helpful if for some reason you need to communicate with parents or other family members but I believe that most times phones are a distraction in the classroom-especially during a lesson if you are on your phone instead of listening to the teacher. Phones can also cause cyber-bulling which is not good as well.
However, I don’t think that the Ministry of Education’s enforcement should have been done a long time ago because many schools have their own cell phone policies anyways.
Like, in my school cell phones are supposed to be left in backpacks but many people sneak them in regardless of rules (when someone wants to show a picture on their phone to other people, everyone just makes a big group around the phone).. This ban will probably have the same issue once students find other ways to sneak devices in the classroom.
So, in conclusion, I believe that this cell phones in classrooms ban is a good thought but then there are always going to be those kids who don’t care about the policy and slip phones out anyways. The official letter from the Ministry of Education does state that learners in kindergarten-grade 6 will now be required
to keep cell phones on mute and out of sight for the school day and students in grades 7- 12 will be allowed to have their phones with them but use can only be permitted during instructional time if allowed by an educator. However, again students will overtime evolve to find ways to use phones in the classroom.
Phones are, after all a big part of the world today.
good article Freya.