Students who are part of Canada’s largest school board will soon have to limit cellphone use in class.
Trustees for the Toronto District School Board’s (TDSB) Governance and Policy Committee voted on Wednesday to develop a new mobile device policy.
The approved motion points to research that states, “cell phone use is not beneficial to learning, and in fact appears to be creating significant harm to children and teens, in terms of mental health, well-being and academic success.”
Trustee Rachel Chernos Lin proposed the motion, stating that teachers and parents have shared concerns about classroom cellphone use interrupting learning. While she’s been hearing these concerns for the five years she’s been a trustee, complaints grew over the last two years when students returned to school post-pandemic.
“I really envision a policy that’s very clear, that sets a culture of what place a cell phone would have in a school, or might not in certain cases,” Lin said while presenting the motion, CTV News reports.
According to provincial guidelines updated in 2019, students are allowed to use cellphones in class for educational purposes if directed by their teacher, for health or medical reasons, or to support special education needs.
The new policy will be based on research about cellphone use and child development. It will also examine how other school boards and individual schools are addressing the problem. “[This will] determine the most productive way forward to support student academic success, mental health and well-being, including considerations of social media restrictions.”
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