A teacher at York Mills Collegiate Institute in Toronto introduced a new cellphone policy that has significantly improved student engagement.
Vanessa Yoon created a pledge at the start of the school year, requiring students and their parents to agree to specific cellphone use guidelines, reports the Globe and Mail. The issue? She could teach a full class without even seeing the eyes of students, as they were glued to their phones.
Parents and students initially showed mixed reactions, with parents quickly endorsing the plan and students taking a couple of weeks to adapt. The pledge says devices need to be off or on silent and stored away during class. Failure to do so results in phones being taken away for the rest of class periods, which are 75 minutes long.
“I just needed something to implement in my classroom,” said Yoon, highlighting the shared frustrations among educators over cellphone disruptions. Her strategy has prompted nearly two dozen other teachers at her school to adopt similar agreements.
The Toronto District School Board is now developing a broader cellphone policy, influenced by classroom practices like Yoon’s, following new directives from the Ontario government. Education Minister Stephen Lecce announced that starting this fall, school boards must establish their own policies to curb cellphone distractions, including restricting access to social media on school networks. Kids just can’t stay off addictive apps like Instagram and TikTok.
Students have reported positive changes with the new rules, seeing an increase in class participation and a decrease in homework due to better focus during lessons. Some students saw their grade average rise almost 40% after the pledge kicked into effect. The result of her plan? Everyone was on board and she did not have to confiscate a single cellphone.
What a simple concept. Tell students to put away their phones or have them taken away. Consequences.
“Our kids need to know that this is in their best interests,” said school principal Lesley Gage. “As much as they don’t like it, and they’re frustrated, they understand it. When their achievement improves, and their engagement improves, and they understand concepts the first time instead of having to revisit it, that speaks volumes,” she added.
