Re:
Dear Editor:
I suspect there are few people on the North Shore who don’t own a cellphone and further I would argue that most are afflicted with varying degrees of “cellphone addiction.” With respect to the teenageed population, the dependency on the cellphone is in the extreme, given the power and lure of social media. To believe that students will exercise compliance and good judgement of cellphone use in the class room is naïve and unrealistic.
The North Shore school districts and their leaders are likely afraid of rebellious behaviour and parental backlash should a strict policy be introduced that limits all cell use during class time. As a consequence, students will predictably find ways of checking Instagram and Snapchat etc. while allegedly attending to lectures and in-class assignments.
Unpopular decisions take courage and the North Shore school districts need to seriously consider the Ontario government’s province-wide ban on cellphone use in classrooms.
Bill Hubbard
North Vancouver
