Caddies and paper bags: Schools figuring out new world of cellphone bans
CTV
From cellphone 'hotels' to patchwork policies to recalibrating lesson plans, teachers and schools across Canada are learning to navigate a classroom without cellphones.
From cellphone "hotels" to patchwork policies to recalibrating lesson plans, teachers and schools across Canada are learning to navigate a classroom without cellphones.
But some say that despite recent bans and restrictions on the phones, little has changed.
A number of provinces, including Saskatchewan, Ontario, Manitoba and Alberta, introduced plans to limit cellphone usage beginning this school year. There is a mix of restrictions along with outright bans.
The changes come as educators try to get students to log off and stay focused, noting online squabbles have forced their way into classrooms and social interactions among youth have dwindled.
It's early days, with policies still being crafted, leading to some schools finding creative ways to curb students' itchy cellphone fingers.
In Winnipeg, West Kildonan Collegiate introduced its own ban during the last school year, purchasing 50 cellphone caddies off Amazon to put in each classroom.
Each caddy, visible beside the teacher's desk, contains holders for students to park their phones at the beginning of class and pick it up at the end.
