The Province of Alberta mandated this school year that all students were not to have access to the cell phone during class in Alberta schools unless needed for class activity.
With this being the first week of class at Drumheller Valley Secondary School, according to Principal Dana Yemen, students have been very compliant with the rules. “It is actually going really well across the province and as well in Drumheller. We have spoken with St. Anthony’s (School) and our Superintendents have been wonderful and supportive. We are aligning between the schools as much as possible. Students and parents have been wonderful. We sent out information prior to the school year. It’s a new challenge but we’re blessed with Chromebooks and other items to access. It’s nice not to have the social media piece in the school for student’s mental health.”
One of the big pieces is the limitation of cyber bullying during class time and Yemen is hopeful that it is making a difference. “It’s really early on and I’m not sure about the bullying piece, in terms of if that has reduced, or moved out of the building to hours when students are not with us. This is a response parents across the board were looking for to help support their children.”
With the removal of the cell phones from class, it essentially goes back to a time before students had cell access all of the time. “It has been a challenge for our teachers to think of other ways to use the technology. We’re fortunate that we continue to have internet access, it just means it is a Chromebook device or something for academic purposes, instead of a cell phone.”
With the changes, students, teachers, everyone cannot access their social media accounts while using the school network access. Even though it is early in the school year, the hope is that the students continue to welcome and embrace the change.
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