As the schools in Alberta prepare to open for the fall, they are facing a controversial and apparently complicated change in policy. As of this year, children from kindergarten to grade 12 will not be allowed to use their cell phones in classrooms! The head of Alberta’s teacher’s union is predictably apoplectic. According to ATA head Jason Schilling, the policy is confusing and teachers won’t know how to enforce it. If indeed this is true, one must wonder just how incompetent Alberta’s teachers have become.I will offer Mr. Schilling some advice since he apparently can’t figure it out. Tell teachers that cell phones will no longer be allowed in class. The teachers can then tell the students at the beginning of the school year they will no longer be allowed to have cell phones in class. Students who don’t comply, will be removed from class. Is that so complicated? Students can’t smoke cigarettes at their desks nor can they prepare and consume three course meals during classes. It doesn’t take a comprehensive, prescriptive policy to stop those actions in classrooms. It just takes a teacher with a grain of sense to tell a student it isn’t allowed, and to follow through with discipline to remove the student if they refuse to stop. If this is beyond the ability of some teachers, perhaps they should consider a profession involving less responsibility.Speaking of responsibility, as I have watched the debate rage on social media over this policy, I have seen the line “teachers aren’t babysitters” trotted out several times.Actually, they are.To teachers is entrusted the care of our children for a set number of hours per week. During that period, those teachers are indeed responsible not only for the instruction of those students, but the management of their behaviour while they are in school. Call it babysitting if you like.Managing and teaching children is an important and difficult job. Nobody is denying that. Due to the difficulty of the job, teachers are very well compensated, given generous benefits and a pension plan that few people in other trades can dream of. Teachers also of course get summers off to unwind if the Christmas break, spring break, long weekends and other days off weren’t quite enough for them. In light of all that, it shouldn’t be too much to ask them to ensure that kids aren’t using cell phones in class when they are supposed to be learning.I have seen some people claiming removing cell phones from classrooms would put students at risk because some use apps for diabetes monitoring or hearing aid control. I have faith that our teachers can walk and chew gum effectively enough to be able to distinguish between phone use for health reasons and a kid watching TikTok videos or chatting online.Helicopter parents are among those complaining of the new policy as well. Some people feel they can’t go a few hours a day without immediate and ready access to their children through their cell phones. It’s a wonder any child survived school without them decades ago. If parents are that concerned, perhaps they should consider home-schooling so their little angel is never out of their sight. Most parents can wait until lunchtime for their kids to respond to a text.I have seen some others claiming kids must have phones in school so they can record the bad behaviour of teachers. If things really are so bad that kids need to act as the spies on teachers, again I suggest home-schooling. I do believe that there are some terrible teachers out there but leaving cell phones in the classrooms isn’t the way to deal with it.What teacher’s unions and the NDP in Alberta forget to mention is that cell phones are being banned in classes in NDP B.C. as well. Ontario has done the same. The ban isn’t some odious idea unique to Alberta. The motivation for the opposition to the ban is mostly based on generalized opposition to anything and everything the UCP in Alberta may do. It’s just partisan pap.Cell phones are a distraction for kids in classes. There are no ifs, ands or buts about it.This isn’t complicated. If there are exceptional circumstances where a device may be used in a course, the teachers can make that exception.Not everything has to be controversial or complicated. The needs of the students must be put ahead of the aspirations of the NDP and its union base.If some parents and unions feel this is a hill to die on, nothing is stopping them from opening a charter school with no limitations on phone use. Until then, cell phones don’t belong in classrooms..This is what the Western Standard is up againstThe Trudeau government is funding lies and propaganda by directly subsidizing the mainstream media. They do this to entrench the powerful Eastern, woke and corrupt interests that dominate the political, social and economic institutions in Canada. Federal authorities are constantly trying to censor us and stop us from publishing the stories that they don’t want you to read. Ottawa may weaponize our taxes and police against us, but we’ve got a powerful ally on our side.You. Free men, and free women. We need you to stand with us and become a member of the Western Standard. Here’s what you will get for your membership:Unlimited access to all articles from the Western Standard, Alberta Report, West Coast Standard, and Saskatchewan Standard, with no paywall. Our daily newsletter delivered to your inbox. .Access to exclusive Member-only WS events.Keep the West’s leading independent media voice strong and free.If you can, please support us with a monthly or annual membership. It takes just a moment to set up, and you will be making a big impact on keeping one the last independent media outlets in Canada free from Ottawa’s corrupting influence.
As the schools in Alberta prepare to open for the fall, they are facing a controversial and apparently complicated change in policy. As of this year, children from kindergarten to grade 12 will not be allowed to use their cell phones in classrooms! The head of Alberta’s teacher’s union is predictably apoplectic. According to ATA head Jason Schilling, the policy is confusing and teachers won’t know how to enforce it. If indeed this is true, one must wonder just how incompetent Alberta’s teachers have become.I will offer Mr. Schilling some advice since he apparently can’t figure it out. Tell teachers that cell phones will no longer be allowed in class. The teachers can then tell the students at the beginning of the school year they will no longer be allowed to have cell phones in class. Students who don’t comply, will be removed from class. Is that so complicated? Students can’t smoke cigarettes at their desks nor can they prepare and consume three course meals during classes. It doesn’t take a comprehensive, prescriptive policy to stop those actions in classrooms. It just takes a teacher with a grain of sense to tell a student it isn’t allowed, and to follow through with discipline to remove the student if they refuse to stop. If this is beyond the ability of some teachers, perhaps they should consider a profession involving less responsibility.Speaking of responsibility, as I have watched the debate rage on social media over this policy, I have seen the line “teachers aren’t babysitters” trotted out several times.Actually, they are.To teachers is entrusted the care of our children for a set number of hours per week. During that period, those teachers are indeed responsible not only for the instruction of those students, but the management of their behaviour while they are in school. Call it babysitting if you like.Managing and teaching children is an important and difficult job. Nobody is denying that. Due to the difficulty of the job, teachers are very well compensated, given generous benefits and a pension plan that few people in other trades can dream of. Teachers also of course get summers off to unwind if the Christmas break, spring break, long weekends and other days off weren’t quite enough for them. In light of all that, it shouldn’t be too much to ask them to ensure that kids aren’t using cell phones in class when they are supposed to be learning.I have seen some people claiming removing cell phones from classrooms would put students at risk because some use apps for diabetes monitoring or hearing aid control. I have faith that our teachers can walk and chew gum effectively enough to be able to distinguish between phone use for health reasons and a kid watching TikTok videos or chatting online.Helicopter parents are among those complaining of the new policy as well. Some people feel they can’t go a few hours a day without immediate and ready access to their children through their cell phones. It’s a wonder any child survived school without them decades ago. If parents are that concerned, perhaps they should consider home-schooling so their little angel is never out of their sight. Most parents can wait until lunchtime for their kids to respond to a text.I have seen some others claiming kids must have phones in school so they can record the bad behaviour of teachers. If things really are so bad that kids need to act as the spies on teachers, again I suggest home-schooling. I do believe that there are some terrible teachers out there but leaving cell phones in the classrooms isn’t the way to deal with it.What teacher’s unions and the NDP in Alberta forget to mention is that cell phones are being banned in classes in NDP B.C. as well. Ontario has done the same. The ban isn’t some odious idea unique to Alberta. The motivation for the opposition to the ban is mostly based on generalized opposition to anything and everything the UCP in Alberta may do. It’s just partisan pap.Cell phones are a distraction for kids in classes. There are no ifs, ands or buts about it.This isn’t complicated. If there are exceptional circumstances where a device may be used in a course, the teachers can make that exception.Not everything has to be controversial or complicated. The needs of the students must be put ahead of the aspirations of the NDP and its union base.If some parents and unions feel this is a hill to die on, nothing is stopping them from opening a charter school with no limitations on phone use. Until then, cell phones don’t belong in classrooms..This is what the Western Standard is up againstThe Trudeau government is funding lies and propaganda by directly subsidizing the mainstream media. They do this to entrench the powerful Eastern, woke and corrupt interests that dominate the political, social and economic institutions in Canada. Federal authorities are constantly trying to censor us and stop us from publishing the stories that they don’t want you to read. Ottawa may weaponize our taxes and police against us, but we’ve got a powerful ally on our side.You. Free men, and free women. We need you to stand with us and become a member of the Western Standard. Here’s what you will get for your membership:Unlimited access to all articles from the Western Standard, Alberta Report, West Coast Standard, and Saskatchewan Standard, with no paywall. Our daily newsletter delivered to your inbox. .Access to exclusive Member-only WS events.Keep the West’s leading independent media voice strong and free.If you can, please support us with a monthly or annual membership. It takes just a moment to set up, and you will be making a big impact on keeping one the last independent media outlets in Canada free from Ottawa’s corrupting influence.
