Cellphone bans in Maritime schools should increase academic performance, says school psychologist

As the back-to-school season starts, students and teachers are getting used to new cellphone rules put in place in all three Maritime provinces.

Prince Edward Island

In Prince Edward Island, cellphones are banned in classrooms, although teachers will be able to allow students in Grades 7-to-12 to use them for educational purposes.

Nova Scotia

In Nova Scotia, students in public schools are required to turn off their smartphones and store them out of sight during school hours.

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The policy also dictates older students in Grades 7-to-12 may use their cellphones during lunch break, recess and between classes, but limited exceptions for education purposes will be determined by individual teachers.

The policy bans cellphone use from washrooms and change room facilities at any time.

New Brunswick

In New Brunswick, cellphones are to be placed in a designated area of the classroom on silent mode, unless the teacher advises they can be used for educational reasons.

New Brunswick students can also use their cellphones for medical purposes, such as diabetes self-management.

The effect on teachers and students

Clinical and school psychologist Todd Cunningham says the changes are significant given how often Canadians use cellphones on a daily basis.

“We are all connected with them (cellphones). Many of us don’t even have landlines in our homes anymore because we are using our cellphones. And more and more, we are providing these phones to our children at an earlier and earlier age with the idea that we’re trying to connect with them, to check in with them on a day-to-day basis,” said Cunningham during an interview with CTV Atlantic’s Todd Battis on Thursday.

However, Cunningham says research is showing introducing cellphones at such an early age may have not been the best idea.

“In fact, it can have a real detriment to their learning, especially when they’re in the classroom,” he said.

As far as who benefits from the new cellphone guidelines at schools, Cunningham points to the students.

“The research is really clear that when we have a cellphone either on our desk or in our back pocket – and again these are smartphones that are internet-connected – that there’s a part of our brain that has learned that these smartphones are sources of important information,” Cunningham explained.

“We are constantly having parts of our brain being drawn to the phone to be able to think about it as a place to gather important information. So, by just either having it on the desk, in our backpack or in our pocket, as long as it’s in reach of us, our brain is continuously thinking about that. And that diverts the attention away from what the teachers are saying, away from the discussions happening in the classroom, away from me doing my individual work to that phone.”

Cunningham says research also shows students regain attention only when the cellphone is removed and put in a different location.

According to Cunningham, recent studies show one-third of youth are spending three-plus hours on their phones on a daily basis.

“So, that’s three hours that they’re not spending interacting in real time with their friends. It’s three hours that they’re not developing those social communications or those peer conflict resolution skills,” Cunningham said.

Cunningham said the time not spent away from phones is where the problem lies.

“If I’m putting my time into my phone, if I’m sitting on the playground on my phone connecting online, that’s time that I’m not spending being a kid and playing with my friends. And that playtime is really important because it’s during that playtime that we’re learning how to develop our self-regulation. It’s how we learn how to share and take our turns. It’s how to suppress my needs to be able to allow my friends to have what they’re looking for. Helping me to learn the rules of our society.”

With the changes throughout Maritime schools, Cunningham said it’s important to understand the change, especially for teenagers, will be difficult.

“But we also have to let them understand why this is happening. That this is a time that is impacting their learning and is interfering with some of their development.”

As far as if the new cellphone bans will work, Cunningham says it has shown a positive difference in other countries – including Finland, Spain and Norway – who have already made the changes.

“What they’ve actually shown over the course of the years, they actually saw increases in academic performance across the population in schools that were doing this,” he said.

“So, my hope is that teachers and students will actually start seeing, ‘Hey, in fact, I am able to attend better in class. I’m actually doing better at school because I can actually learn and devote my cognitive resources to listening to the teacher and engaging in the conversations in the classroom versus always thinking about the phone.’”