Dear Editor:
RE: New provincial cell phone restrictions have no impact on local school board practices, Nov. 7.
I agree with the idea that cell phones should be banned from the classroom but think that it should stop there.
As a private school student my phone is not banned from the classroom, but the teachers ask that we put it in a basket in the front of the classroom. This is very effective. It helps to focus on the topic the teacher is portraying, instead of checking if you have a notification. I think that there is not much of a difference between banning phones and putting them in a basket. Either way you don’t have the phone and it’s another distraction gone.
Banning cellphones in classrooms is where it should stop. In some location’s phones are not even allowed in the building. I disagree with this enforcement. When you are not in a classroom and the time is your own, phones should be permitted. If someone needs to contact you, they should be able to. For example, my dad will often text me when he is picking me up but if I don’t have my phone then we have no way of communicating this.
Overall, I think phones should be banned from the classroom but allowed in the building.
Tessa Van Veen,
Rockwood