Some Sask. students not pleased with province's new cellphone ban

Students' pockets may feel a little lighter as they head into the classroom this year.

Students in kindergarten to Grade 12 will have to adapt to a new provincewide cellphone ban during class time.

The provincial government announced the new policy in August, saying it would allow students to be more engaged with their teachers and be more focused on learning.

But some students who spoke with CBC News as they returned to class on Tuesday didn'tagree with the new policy.

"I feel like there's other things you could do to make people focus on school than take away phones in class, like make class sizes smaller," said Holden Stefaniuk, a student at Campbell Collegiate in Regina.

Class size was a key point for teacherswho were engaged injob action during thelast school year,after bargaining on a new contract came to a standstill and the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation has said teachers were not consulted about a cellphone ban.

The job action ended after teachers and the government agreed to binding arbitration, which is scheduled to take placein December.

Under the government's new cellphone policy, cellphone use is only permitted in grade 9 to 12 classrooms if the teacher has gotten an exemption for when the phones are needed for a specific instructional purpose.

"A lot of research shows that cellphone use in schools has a bit of a negative impact on students," Mark Haarmann, the director and CEO of Regina Public Schools, said on Tuesday.

"This is going to mitigate that. I think our teachers are excited as well to have students' full attention."

Each school board can make their own decisions on how they would like to enforce the cellphone ban in their schools.

WATCH | Back to the classroom with no cellphones. Here's what kids say:

Back to the classroom with no cellphones. Here's what kids say

2 months ago

Duration 2:06

High school students in Regina speak to CBC News on the first day of school about the province's school cellphone ban. Some exemptions are available to teachers and students.

Ermia Shareghi, a Grade 10 student at Campbell Collegiate said he could see both sides of the debate, but he wasn't sure about an outright ban.

"A lot of students had their phones for medical purposes like tracking diabetes or contacting their parents and now that is more restricted," Shareghi said. "I don't know, this is kind of odd."

The Ministry of Education said certain exemptions to the ban can be made, such as for medical or family emergencies.