N.B. advocate proposes cellphone ban in schools, students weigh-in

New Brunswick’s Child and Youth Advocate says the province can’t ignore the correlation between a rise in youth mental illness and social media use.

Kelly Lamrock suggested a province-wide ban on cellphones in schools might combat the issue.

He made the comments in a legislative committee Thursday.

“In almost every jurisdiction advocates are saying, ‘Wow, the social media use is going up right at the same time, at the same pace, that mental health indicators are collapsing,’” he told reporters. “I don't think the two are unconnected anymore.”

Lamrock worries about the way algorithms can impact what people can see on social media, and how much they see.

He feels there should be more focus on media literacy and civics classes and leaving the cellphone at the door.

“Maybe schools should be zones where you park your cell phone and you actually engage on a human level with ideas and words and full sentences,” he said. “It might be time to say, look, take a break from experiencing the world through a screen and come here and learn from learn from other people.”

Province-wide cellphone bans exist in Ontario and, most recently, Quebec schools.

Anglophone South School District’s director of communications said right now, it’s up to each individual school to make up its own policies.

A variety of cellphone-related policies do exist. Here’s a sample provided by ASD-S:

•  Cell phones can be used on school grounds before school, break-time, during lunch, and after school.
•  Cell phone use is prohibited in classrooms and restrooms and during instructional time.
•  During the instructional day, cell phones must remain out of sight and in silent mode (in back pack, locker, or designated storage area in the class)
•  If students need to place an emergency phone call during the day, or parents need to reach their child in an emergency, they may use the main office phone
•  There may be occasions where devices are permitted in class for specific instructional purposes as directed by classroom teachers

“We have broader concerns about the impact of phones in schools. First of all, they are an obvious source of distraction during instruction,” said Jessica Hanlon, director of communications at Anglophone South. “They are also tied to behaviour. For many students, the online world is actually very local, and it’s where much of their social interaction with friends and classmates occur.”

“Phones are involved in a lot of the conflict and inappropriate behaviour happening at schools. Phones can be where students are made part of a group or left out, and they are the source of much social “drama”. This all carries over into the classroom and further disrupts the school day. When students are on their phones, they are not interacting face-to-face and they are missing out on critical social skill development.”

She said there are a few middle schools in their district that have outright bans, but that a district-wide ban is not being considered right now because “schools have been successful tailoring their own.”

The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development confirmed in a statement that schools and districts are responsible for their own guidelines.

'Honestly, I would hate it'

The idea of banning cellphones at school doesn’t sit well with some students at Fredericton High School.

Many said they use their cellphone for school work in the classroom.

“They started introducing [Microsoft] teams and you have to submit your work through that, and I feel like if they banned phones, which I feel like a lot of people have, it sort of requires someone to buy a laptop, which would be even more money for like struggling families,” said one student.

Another said they’re able to check grades or when something’s due through an app on their phone. One said they use their phone in three of five of their classes.

“Everyone would really hate on it though, if we banned cellphones and I think we would all be really upset, and honestly, I would hate it. So I kind of hope they don't do that, but I think that that's probably what they will do because it's become a really big problem,” said another student.

When asked if they think there’s a correlation between cellphones – or social media – and their mental health, some agreed.

“When kids our age are held to a certain standard, of looks or everything like that, it can really put pressure on the kid, especially when your mind isn't fully developed or something like that. So I think it does have a correlation,” said another teen.

The idea was only proposed by the Child and Youth Advocate, and at this point, it’s in the hands of the N.B. politicians on the committee.

Lamrock said he’d be willing to help districts with developing what a ban would look like.

“If somebody wanted me to write the right legal mechanism to do it, I'd certainly volunteer to rush and do that. I think for me right now, I'm at a point where I'm comfortable raising the problem,” he said.

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