We welcome students to bring their own Chromebook to school to use for school work. Please see the following attachment on recommendations for BYOD
Technology
Cell Phones in Schools
To ensure a focused and productive learning environment, the following policy regarding student cell phones has been established to align with the direction of Alberta Education.
No Cellular Devices During School Hours:
No cellular devices are permitted in the possession of students throughout the school day. This policy applies to all students in the school. Cellular devices include mobile smartphones. Although smartwatches have similar capabilities, these devices will be addressed on a case by case basis if they become problematic. Students who bring a cell phone to school must store it in their locker. Teachers and Administrators are not responsible for lost cell phones.
Consequences for Unauthorised Use:
First Infraction: If a student is found using their phone during school hours, the phone will be confiscated by school administration and returned to the student at the end of the school day.
Second Infraction: If the same student is found using their phone a second time, the phone will be confiscated and will only be returned to a parent or guardian, who must pick it up at the end of the school day.
Third Infraction: If a third infraction occurs, the student will be asked to leave the phone at home for the remainder of the school year.
We appreciate your support in helping us maintain a focused learning environment for all students. Please refrain from contacting your child directly via cell phone or any other form of messaging, including email, during school hours. If there is an urgent need to reach your child, don't hesitate to contact the office, and we will relay the message promptly.
We sincerely appreciate your cooperation and support this year and in the future, as we comply with this new directive from Alberta Education and CESD School Division. Your support is key in helping us provide a distraction-free learning environment for our students.
Social Media
Penhold Waskasoo Middle School uses Facebook as a social media platform to engage parents with school content. These sites are monitored by school Administration.
Using social media responsibly can be very challenging for adolescents. The many different social media platforms (texting, Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat, TikTok, etc.) allow students to behave impulsively without an immediate consequence and with no adult to immediately correct them. It also facilitates student’s abilities to make inflammatory comments without necessarily revealing their identities. Examples of this include posting online comments that intend to accuse, attack or insult others. Such comments can cause great harm to others, even when made in jest. Furthermore, once comments are posted, they are retained by the software and can be used as evidence of harassment against the original poster. Inevitably, disagreements that originate online make their way into the school environment and then become a school issue. Because schools have no jurisdiction over student disagreements occurring in the community, it is nearly impossible for school administration to resolve disputes that have occurred during non-school hours. However, if that interaction interferes with student learning, the school administration will get involved and will involve parents or all student parties as quickly as possible.
As schools do not have jurisdiction over phone use outside of school time, we require parents’ assistance in monitoring and limiting students’ online access and use of Social Media sites in order to reduce the number of inappropriate student interactions online.
**We remain committed to assisting students with their concerns regarding harassment and/or bullying, and encourage them to speak to teachers, counsellors, administration or parents should they face threatening behavior. Nevertheless, if online disputes endure,
parents/guardians and their children will be asked to resolve the issue external to school by meeting with each other or by involving the police if necessary.**
The following sections reveal some “Fast Facts” about some of the more frequently accessed Social Media sites such as Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Ask, etc.
Minimum Age Requirement:
Each of these sites stresses that no one under the age of 13 should create accounts on their sites. Additionally, each site recommends that teenagers between the ages of 13-17 have an adult assist them when reading the site’s terms, conditions and policies. We ask students and parents to:
- consider whether or not a student is ready to make appropriate use of these sites and;
- If so, that parents take time to help their children read and understand the policies stated on each site students wish to use.
Policy Against Online Bullying:
Each site lists clear rules against the use of inappropriate content, including harassing, insulting and hurtful language. Therefore, users who choose to engage in this behaviour are deliberately contravening the terms and conditions to which they agreed upon creating accounts.
Liability:
Each site makes it clear that any user who violates the terms of the site’s usage bears the sole responsibility of doing so. This is important for students to understand because each site will provide NO support to users who face external consequences for posting inappropriate content.
Content Ownership:
It is also important for students to understand that, once they’ve posted any content to these sites - positive or negative - it becomes the property of these sites. This means that once inappropriate content is posted, the sites have access to it and can/will share inappropriate posts with the authorities upon Request.