Your Voice Matters

This Friday, you will be invited to take part in the UTS Parent Survey, an opportunity for you as parents and guardians to share your ideas and feedback about the UTS experience. Your observations and insights are important for the school, and we look forward to learning from your feedback as we continue to evolve the UTS program for our students. 

One crucial issue included in the survey is our school’s plans to address the use of cell phones and technological devices during school hours. We have been reviewing the research and the negative impacts intensive cell phone, gaming and social media use can have on children’s brain health. We plan to follow best practices, and adopt a research-based approach while considering policies implemented at other schools. The Ontario government recently announced a policy that bans cell phones use in the classroom starting in the 2024-25 school year, and a coalition of Canadian school boards called School Boards for Change launched a multi-billion dollar lawsuit against social media sites such as Meta, Snapchat and TikTok. (See the Toronto Star article.) The lawsuit alleges these social media sites are rewiring children’s brains and disrupting their fundamental right to education.

Our day-to-day experience is that cell phones and technological devices have proven to be a distraction from the learning that is taking place in the classroom. With this in mind, we seek to create a technological device policy with students’ best interests at heart, that supports their learning, socialization and wellness. Below please find some of the research under consideration as we formulate our policies.   

The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness, Jonathan Haidt 

Smartphones, social media use and youth mental health, Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ)

Social Media and Youth Mental Health, U.S. Surgeon General Advisory

Youth, smartphones and social media use, Gambling, Gaming and Technology Use (GGTU) and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)

It is clear that cell phone use in classrooms is often problematic, and we are considering whether it is also necessary to restrict the use of cell phones and limit gaming during the lunchtime. We can control some of what students do on our networks; however, students may be able to access their own data plans to hotspot their laptops to devices and use VPNs to mask their activities and identities. (If anyone can work around technology roadblocks, UTS students are most likely to excel.)

We look forward to receiving your input on this and other issues through the parent survey this week. You are also invited to contact me directly via email at [email protected] should you wish to share feedback or ideas about how UTS can best formulate our mobile device, laptop use and gaming policies. Thank you for your participation and for playing an active role in the UTS parent community. 

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