INNISFAIL – Students throughout Chinook's Edge School Division (CESD) started the new school year Tuesday, Sept. 3 and are being expected to adjust to new rules for personal mobile devices, including cellphone, accordingly.
Jason Drent, CESD associate superintendent, told the Albertan. the division is aligned with the provincial government's ministerial order directing schools to “remove cellphones and social media access from instructional spaces in our schools K to 12.”
“In accordance with that, students will not be permitted to use personal mobile devices at school during instructional time,” he said.
However, the rules will look a bit different for students in kindergarten to Grade 8 and those in high school in Chinook's Edge schools, he added.
“So kindergarten to Grade 8 classrooms, students will not be permitted to use personal mobile devices at school and during school hours,” he said. “It really aligns with the literature and the research around devices and distraction and focus of students.”
But the approach for adolescent students in grades nine to 12 will be a bit different, he added.
“Students will still not be permitted to use personal mobile devices during instructional time. But they may have access before school, during their spares, during their class transitions, lunch hour and after school,” he explained.
“Really the focus there is around the importance that we know these are pretty powerful devices when it comes to communication, when it comes to their lives…and as kids transition into adulthood, we do want to make sure that they have access to that,” he continued.
“And it gives us an opportunity as educators as well to support them (not only) in learning how to use them most effectively, but also minimizing the negative impacts that those devices can have.”
Parents and guardians, he added, were to receive communication from the division outlining the plan to implement the new rules prior to students getting back to class.
“We’re going to make sure it’s clear to them that students in K to 8 are not permitted to use them at school during school hours and the flexibility at the high schools,” he said.
“But when you walk into classrooms, those devices will be off.”
Furthermore, Drent said students in all grades would not be able to log in to their social media platforms of choice.
“Another important consideration too, is that social media access will be banned at the divisional level,” he said, adding the division’s IT department has the ability to effectively block all access.
“Social media will not be available for students to use through our networks at all,” he said.
“We’re really excited. We think that these guidelines will really ensure that our students’ learning environments are free from distractions and then allow our teachers to really deepen engagement with the students and of course deepen learning connections and opportunities.”
He also acknowledged the risk of cyberbullying posed by social media platforms, and the ban is hoped to at least reduce such instances.
“We do appreciate the fact that there are connections through social media and mental health challenges of our youth,” he said.
“We’re supporting our students when they’re faced with challenges and our family wellness teams, our administrators, our teachers, we’ve got a really strong group of caring adults that look out for our kids,” he said.
Over the coming months, the school division will also not only monitor how the ministerial order’s implementation plays out but also seek additional input from parents and guardians as well as stakeholders prior to the implementation of its own policy in January 2025, he said.
“We’ll align with that date and then we’ll be looking for feedback and we’ll create feedback structures with those stakeholders as we prepare for submission,” he said.
“(But as) with any new initiative, we’re going to start with what the government is asking us to do,” he said.
“The provincial rules are in effect for the first day of school (and) the minister is requesting that we have a policy in place for January and we’ll align with that as well.”
Educators throughout Chinook’s Edge School Division are optimistic that the provincial government’s ministerial order outlining new regulations for personal mobile devices and social media will go a long way toward improving students’ focus.
“Any educator will tell you, those devices are pretty powerful on pulling a student’s attention and focus in,” said Drent.
“And there’s a residual impact; when a student gets sucked into that, it takes time for them to reset and come back to the present learning at hand. Our educators are excited to not have to battle that very addictive device,” said Drent.
