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CELL PHONES TO BE BANNED IN THE CLASSROOM
The Ontario government has mandated that in September, 2019 that all cell phones are going to be banned in the classroom. I called the Thame’s Valley School Board only to discover that at present the "use of the electronic devises is up to each school administration and their teachers."
I remember a time that baseball hats were not to be worn in class rooms and those who broke the rules had their chapeaus confiscated to be claimed at the office at the end of the day.
The schools have banned single cheat sheets that the students used to help them with their examinations. Now that smart phones are taboo how are the students going to be access "Professor Google" when they are faced with getting the data to get an "A" on their mid term essays? When the classes are so boring that you need to take a necessary break to view a video game or two their will be no cell phones allowed.
How are the students going to be able to cope without their magic phones to text their friends to see "What’s up?"
If you dare and ask the students they will tell you that the new law is draconian being forced upon them with little or no input from those who are most affected by the ban.
I do not envy the classroom teachers who will have the hard task of enforcing the new rules. Hard to have eyes in the back of your head when writing on the board. The teachers may have to use their phones to monitor/ video the class to catch the perpetrators.
All of the schools have Wi Fi access to ensure that the students can log on to make sure that they are connected while they are at school. Too late to try and ban texting that every student embraces. The phone is like unto their umbilical chord that is the the very air that they breath.
I still remember a Family Studies’ teacher who was taken aback by a couple of grade nine girls who came to school with their navels exposed for all to see. The principal went on the PA to tell the students that "all bare navels where banned forthwith." The very next day all of the student including the males came to school with their band aides covering their very small apertures. The ban was lifted and we all survived.
No need to ban the cell phones if the teachers ask that the students to shut them off when they are teaching.
Len Lesser is an education/career counsellor
Len Lesser