Cell phone usage in the classroom continues to be a problem through school divisions all over the province of Manitoba. The topic came up recently at the Portage la Prairie School Division board meeting as some students look at social media rather than their social studies.

La Verendrye School Principal Michelle Laidlaw says generally, students and parents have been responsive to the issue. She adds that the biggest thing is communicating that phones can disrupt the class.

She acknowledges it is difficult for the kids, seeing as phones, apps, social media and more are designed to be very addictive.

"Our students are looking at them a lot and they're always worried about what's going on online. Those interruptions in our day make their learning difficult to occur, so then we are looking at the social media side of things and the texts that are going back and forth, and, you know, the unkind words," says Laidlaw. "Students are invited to a chat room and there's some really negative comments going back and forth, and we can't monitor that."

Laidlaw knows it's a difficult thing for parents to deal with during the times the kids are not at school. She provided examples of what they want to avoid by limiting phone use at school.

"You think of a time, you know, you're taking a photo with your friend, but then what we're seeing sometimes at school is that months later, those two friends have a disagreement and that photo is posted to social media, and now it's done in a derogatory manner because we're not friends anymore," says Laidlaw. "That leads into issues at school because of what's happening in the evening on the phones. By removing the phones, we've at least eliminated a place where that can happen at school."

Principal Laidlaw said in a story last week that her school wants to teach kids the employability skills of showing up on time, showing up ready to work, and knowing when cell phone use is not appropriate. She notes she is happy with the response they have received from most parents and students who understand there is a time and place.