BC United wants to ban cellphones in classrooms

BC United says if it’s elected in the next provincial election, it will ban cellphone use in all K to 12 classrooms, citing evidence it says shows the devices are causing children to learn less and perform worse.

BCU Leader Kevin Falcon says his party is proposing “cellphone lockers” at schools, so “kids can turn in their cell phones, lock them up, be able to go to the classroom, get their education without distraction and then pick them up again at lunchtime to use and after school.”

Cellphones have been banned in classrooms in Ontario since 2019 and in Quebec as of this month.

The B.C. Ministry of Education previously said it’s re-evaluating its policies on cellphones in schools but offered no timeline for a decision.

“Unfortunately the NDP has not gone ahead but Ontario and Quebec have and that’s a great thing – for their kids, but we need the same thing for our kids,” Falcon said.

The BC Teachers’ Federation tells CityNews it doesn’t have an official position on cellphone usage in classrooms.

However, Carole Gordon, first vice-president of the federation, says there are already ways cellphones and the expectations of their usage are managed in classrooms.

“There’s lots of different ways that teachers, schools, and districts have set policies, or made decisions and expectations around cellphone use, and some of those may have restrictions, a few, or none at all, and so those policies are best set as close as possible to the learning.”