Sudbury Catholic schools say new cellphone rules have been well-received

Easy adjustment to new cellphone rules in Sudbury School officials in Greater Sudbury say it has been smooth sailing implementing new cellphone restrictions in the classroom.

When Sudbury teacher Jillian Ospina began her career, she says very few students had cellphones -- and if they did, it was seen as a luxury.

Now every student seems to have a cellphone and Ospina said last year especially, she noticed the devices were a distraction while she was teaching class.

"(They) could feel it buzzing," she said.

"They'd go to the washroom and kind of check their cellphone in a sneaky way.”

Since new restrictions came into effect this year, however, Ospina said that’s no longer the case for her students at St. Charles College.

"To be honest, I think the teachers were a little concerned because it was a really big change for a lot of students, and we see a lot of students that are really, dependent on their phones," she said.

"But the students, when they came back, even from the very first day, have adjusted remarkably."

Administrators agree that the change has been well-received.

"I think our students have shined to the occasion, without the distractions of the social media and of the different technologies that they bring into a classroom," said principal Aaron Barry.

"The students really haven't pushed back at all. They've been really understanding of our expectations and teachers, you know, from time to time, have to do the reminders, but they've been really good about it."

Some teachers at the board said students are using their free time differently.

"If they have a spare few minutes, they are working on schoolwork, reading or talking to each other," said Donna Rinaldi, an elementary school teacher at Marymount Academy.

"This is nice to see. In the past, students would always be asking for their phones if they had any amount of free time."

If a student is consistently not following the classroom rule, the phone will be sent to the office and the student can pick it up at the end of the day.

But officials said that hasn't been an issue yet.

For more information on personal mobile device use in Sudbury Catholic schools, click here.