“Perceptions,” by Gerry Warner

Op-Ed Commentary

I rarely praise government – any government – but on this occasion I’m going to give praise and I hope I don’t live to regret it.

Premier David Eby’s NDP government announced this week that it’s introducing legislation to “restrict” cellphone usage in B.C. school classrooms and as a former teacher myself all I can say is “amen” to that. I’m sure thousands of B.C. parents feel the same way, but it’s a little early yet to be shouting hallelujah!

Obviously, the key word here is “restrict.”

Details of how restrictive the ban is going to be haven’t been announced yet and those details are key to whether the oft-called for ban will be a glorious success or a miserable failure.

Unfortunately, it won’t surprise me if it’s the latter. I say this with regret because I would support a ban myself. But I’m only one of two parents whose children have long since abandoned the nest for successful careers and left mom and dad lamenting for grandchildren that have yet to appear. Really!

I also believe Eby’s brave talk about banning cellphones in the classroom is just a balloon full of political hot air unless his government gets close to a total buy-in from parents.

I’m sure most teachers would agree with me on this. They’re the ones in the trenches who have to deal with students victimized by maniacal cell phone users who use the deadly electronic instruments to harass, bully, demean, torture, embarrass – and worst of all – practice sexual extortion on their fellow students.

Yes, this sounds more than a little hyperbolic but in your heart of hearts you know it’s true and an ugly fact of life in this stressed-out world of ours.

So, Mr. and Mrs. Jones, what are you going to do about it?

Rush out of the house early in the morning to your job and leave your teenaged children to play on their devices (pun not intended). There’s no law against that, of course, but you’ve just made your child an easier target for cellphone abusers who are always on the lookout for another victim.

And oh, how they do it! Remember Amber Todd, the Port Coquitlam teen who committed suicide in 1996 after a Netherlands cyber-pervert bullied her into displaying her breasts on the Internet to pedophiles around the world?

The creep who did it is in jail now but the video is still on the ‘net and received 15 million views as of May 2023. And what inspired the B.C. government to finally act on the issue was the Oct. 12, 2023 case when a 12-year-old Prince George boy committed suicide after being a victim of sextortion.

I told you it’s an ugly world.

So, I hope I’ve made a case for restricting cellphone use in schools. But note I’m saying “restricted” not banned. I say this because a cellphone can also be a powerful educational tool if used properly.

Research – the very foundation of education – can be done faster and more effectively on a cellphone than any  other way. So why not use them for educational purposes in a connected world? But for this to happen safely there must be rules.

And for the rules to be effective they must be enforced by both parents and teachers who, whether they like it or not, are partners in this issue.

School rules don’t have to be complicated. In class time, cellphones stay in lockers without written permission from a teacher for educational purposes. Otherwise, they can be used, but only in non-instructional time.

Violation of this rule results in confiscation of these massively misused instruments.

Kids aren’t stupid. They’ll get the message quickly. Don’t you think taking cellphones away from teens would be the most draconian enforcement method possible? But for this system to work both parents and teachers will have to support it absolutely.

Otherwise, it will be anarchy and quite possibly more deaths.

– Gerry Warner is a retired journalist, who believes in looking at issues pragmatically.

Article Share