Good afternoon,
The feedback around our electronics policy has been overwhelmingly positive. We are seeing improved engagement in the classroom, quieter hallways and less traffic in the bathrooms during instructional time. We are seeing students exploring new ways to manage nervousness and anxiety rather than depending on a screen as a calming technique. Research is telling us that the screens are increasing anxiety not helping it. We are truly grateful to the staff and parent/caregiver community for supporting students as they transition to new strategies. Additionally, we are working through some challenges now that phones are no longer the go to for research. For example, we have purchased hard copy dictionaries and the thesauruses for the English department.
The book, The Anxious Generation offers a sound rationale for why we believe this policy is important to the well-being of our students.
The continued success of the No Phones/Electronics during instructional time depends of consistency of expectations across the school and the support of our parent/caregiver community. Thank you so much for the support you have shown to us so far this school year.
Below is a link to the policy:
Please reach out to Cathryn Blanco (cathryn_blanco@sd42.ca) with any comments or questions.