Charlottetown school tells kids to put away the phones

Staff at Stonepark Intermediate School are cracking down on electronicdevices after what Principal Norman Beck calls a gradual ramp up of misuse.

"It comes down to two things, destructiveness in class and protection of privacy and we've seen instances of both of those," he said.

Beck says he received complaints from both students and teachers about their image being used without permission and showing up on social media.

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"We're seeing some situations where students are texting to one another during class time, going to the bathroom texting to another student in class," he said.

We see situations where staff have been video-taped, audio-taped unbeknownst to them, images are ending up on Instagram.- Stonepark Principal Norman Beck

"We see situations where staff have been video-taped, audio-taped unbeknownst to them, images are ending up on Instagram. Pictures are being taken and shown without approval."

P.E.I. schools put out their policy in April of 2007 and were strict about students not using devices during school hours, but some principals adapted the policy to fit their school environment. Beck hoped it would give the students some flexibility.

"We thought that this might be an opportunity for them to interact with their device and use it as they would in their daily lives and just sort of give them a little bit of freedom with it," he said

So students were allowed to have electronicdevices in the classroom, but were only allowed to use them on breaks and were not allowed to take pictures or videos.

No more texting

Now the school is reconsidering the policy. As of last week, students and parents were informed that devices have to be in lockers during classroom hours. They are allowed to use the devices before the morning bell and at lunch, but only for listening to music and playing games no texting, calling or taking images.

Beck says he has received a lot of positive feedback from parents.

But students aren't too happy.

"I think taking pictures is a rare thing that happened and I feel like they should take it from specific people but not everyone," said Taylor MacLeod.

Others agreed it shouldn't be an all or nothing policy.

"There could be limits in the class and certain times," said Colin Jenkins.

Isaac Moorehead said it should be OK to use the devices while doing solo work in class.

"You should be allowed to listen to music, like with ear buds and stuff," he said.

Punishments

For students who break the new rules, Stonepark has implemented a four-step process ranging from confiscating the phone up to in-school and finally out-of-school suspensions.

Beck says his staff is fully on board with the new policy and everyone will be responsible to watch for infractions. There will be exceptions made for certain situations, such as medical needs on a case-by-case basis.

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