Manitoba parents voice support for ban on electronic devices in the classroom

Ahead of the upcoming academic year, more jurisdictions are implementing bans on electronic devices in the classroom. Most recently, Saskatchewan introduced an electronic device ban for the fall, making Manitoba the only province outside of Atlantic Canada to not have a provincially mandated policy.

Some school divisions, like Hanover, are going ahead with planned bans starting this fall, while others, like Division Scolaire Franco-Manitobaine, put a “cellphone directive” last year.

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DSFM superintendent Alain Laberge says there were some parents and students who questioned the policy at first, but after a year, nearly all opposition has vanished.

“A lot of positive reactions from the teachers, from parents, and surprisingly the students,” Laberge said. “Some students wrote to me and said the pressure they felt to have an iPhone or telephone, they felt pressure to use it, and now they feel relief.”

Laberge adds that this fall the directive will be expanding to include how much screen-based learning is used in the classroom.

“What we asked teachers for (grades) 9-12 is that, just use your judgement,” Laberge said. “You may need an hour, if all of you need an hour a day that’ll be four hours. Do you really need it? Just ask yourself, ‘Do you really need to have students in front of their computers for an hour?’”

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