Last month, an Ontario high school teacher wrote an anonymous open letter decrying student-on-teacher violence. Outlining specific actions that the educator wanted the school board to take, one bullet point stood out: a complete ban on cellphones.
It’s a tall order, but it’s one that some schools across Canada are asking from their teen students in order to reduce bad behaviour, remove distractions and improve quality of life in the classroom.
Cellphones have a large impact on students’ mental health, says Sachin Maharaj, an assistant professor of educational leadership, policy and program evaluation at the University of Ottawa.
Schools aren’t just teaching content, Maharaj told CBC News, they’re also teaching “habits of mind,”
