A commentary by a 34-year high school history teacher. He lives in Victoria.
I can absolutely attest to the truth that cellphones in the classroom have a major negative effect on a student’s ability to learn.
It’s not just my anecdotal evidence that supports this conclusion either. Peer-reviewed, scientific research overwhelmingly proves cellphone use in the classroom during instruction is detrimental to learning.
Here is a direct quote from but one study: “The increase in student cell phone use in classrooms has led to a decrease in academic performance and satisfaction with instruction.” (Dietz and Henrich, 2014.)
The cellphone manufacturers have obtained their goal of creating a very addictive product in order to maximize their profits. Teachers in a classroom cannot compete with the lure of the internet while students are sitting at their desks for six hours a day.
Their brains crave the hit of dopamine they get when they open TikTok, or when they hear a “ping” when a new text message comes in from a friend.
The lure of wanting their cellphones is much more powerful than listening to a teacher direct them to put their phones away.
As for the argument that students need cellphones because there are not enough Chromebooks for all the students is a red herring.
The question all the parents should be asking is why is it that the provincial government is not funding public education properly so that every student does have access to a Chromebook?
British Columbia is below the Canadian average for funding public schools by $1,800 per student. Read that again.
B.C. is $1,800 below the average for the rest of Canada.
The answer to this argument is obviously to increase school funding to at least the Canadian average, and not to continue student access to cellphones, because we know cellphones are harmful to learning.
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