Sometimes father doesn’t always know best. Ontario premier- dad Dalton McGuinty says he is open to lifting the ban on Blackberries and smartphones in public classrooms. He says that there is a “right way” to use the phones in a learning environment.
Of course, smartphones do allow access to information literally at the user’s fingertips, however it seems highly unlikely that students will be using their phones in McGuinty’s so-called “right way.”
Cellphone usage has become an integral part of our everyday lives and the appropriate etiquette frequently lies in the hands of the phone’s beholder.
The premier himself does not allow any of his ministers to have cellphones turned on in cabinet meetings; however, he somehow believes that high school students will be more vigilant when surfing the web.
The Globe and Mail reported McGuinty saying, while gesturing towards a texting cameraman: “If the teacher says, ‘All right, we’re all going to go online right now. We’re going to access this information right now.’ That’s different than this gentleman who’s completely ignoring me here and doing his own thing.”
If a cameraman who is getting paid to be there can’t even give McGuinty the time of day, it seems a bit naive of him to believe that a high school student should practice better phone etiquette.
This is the same man who pushed to ban cellphone usage while driving because of the fact that it is such a dangerous distraction. His policies on cellphone usage are incredibly inconsistent, and surprise surprise – we have McGuinty flip-flopping on yet another issue.
Granted, updating a Facebook status in class may not lead to death or injury but it definitely means the student is not paying attention. It is impossible for teachers to monitor the content that an individual student is viewing on their Blackberry, which is the fatal flaw in McGuinty’s plan to incorporate new technology in the classroom. It is a slippery slope. First come the cellphones – ‘sexting’ and picture messaging in the classroom are not too far behind.
McGuinty is clearly living in a fantasy world.
As it stands, if it makes noise it is considered a distraction and not allowed in the classroom. Putting a cellphone on silent or vibrate is common practice, making it near impossible to gauge usage in a classroom of 30 students.
So is the premier-dad just embracing the inevitable and incorporating cellphones in the classroom? Or is his fantasy world becoming an all-too-realistic nightmare for parents and teachers alike?
Not to mention it puts the pressure on many parents to buy their kids a smartphone – and those are not cheap.
This plan is a poor attempt on McGuinty’s part to try to hang with the cool kids. Modern technology should be at the forefront of any elected official’s agenda – but McGuinty shows how out of touch with today’s youth he really is. The result? One major missed call from our premier dad.