The union representing teachers across the province has seen first-hand the impact cell phones have had in the learning environment.

NLTA President Trent Langdon says cell phones provide students with a long list of unnecessary distractions ranging from the mundane to far more serious and even criminal consequences.

“Cyber-bullying” says Langdon, “that’s a huge issue, there are addictions concerns, too much screen time, also what (are) kids accessing on their phones day-in, day-out? There’s gambling sites, there’s pornography, there’s tonnes of different things from that end.”

“There’s interactions with really, students from all over the island and maybe even other provinces and countries, there’s safety issues around people taking advantage of young people, all of that is an issue,” says Langdon. He also offers a reminder that in some cases, “drug deals are going on through the use of phones,” and that arrangements are being made for “meet-ups on the school parking lot.”

He says cell phones have become the priority for many students and with a broad-ranging policy in place, they’ll be able to “regain respect for the learning environment.”

In terms of administration and enforcement of the new policy, Langdon doesn’t believe much will change since most schools already had individual cell phone policies in place.