Cell phone restrictions coming to Vancouver schools

Restrictions on cell phones are now coming to Vancouver schools.

The Vancouver School Board passed a motion on Monday night requiring students from kindergarten to Grade 7 to keep their devices on silent and out of sight during the school day, unless they have permission to do otherwise.

The motion also directs the superintendent to form a working group on the matter to discuss lessons learned, share best practices and propose changes as needed.

The new rules are meant to align with the province’s requirement for school districts to bring in cell phone restrictions by July.

”Children nowadays are so dependent on technology,” said Preeti Faridkot, a Vancouver School Board trustee, at the meeting.

“The only way this could stop is if we implement this restriction in schools. We are, as a board, committed to providing a safe learning environment and restricting cell phones. Schools are for education and not for devices or social media.”

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Two trustees voted against the motion.

Trustee Suzie Mah said that since it’s up to individual schools to lay out consequences, there could be issues with equity and optics if consequences are applied more harshly at some schools than others.