Starting next month, all elementary students at Burnaby public schools will be prohibited from taking their cellphones and other personal devices out during the school day – including at lunch and recess.
The new restrictions are part of an addition to the school district's code of conduct prompted by the provincial government, which announced in January that all school districts have to have cellphone restrictions in place by July 1.
In Burnaby, elementary students won't be allowed to take their cellphones out at all during the school day, but high school students will only have to put their digital devices away during "instructional time."
With permission from their teachers, students at all grade levels will be allowed to use their devices in class for instructional purposes or accessibility or medical reasons.
"There's a time to use cellphones and other digital devices and a time to have them stored away," deputy superintendent Roberto Bombelli said in a district notice about the code of conduct changes.
Bombelli noted there is already a focus on "uninterrupted learning, coupled with responsible and safe use of technology" in Burnaby schools, and the biggest shift in the code of conduct changes is "codifying the language."
"These changes to the code of conduct solidify the approach across all schools and add further clarity for students and their families around expectations during the school day," he said.
While drafting the code of conduct changes, the district said it consulted with students, parents, teachers, support staff and school principals to make sure effective cellphone-use strategies already being used at local schools were "fully considered."
To read the additions to the code of conduct, visit the Burnaby school district website.
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