B.C. high school principal loses cellphone jamming war with students

The principal of a Vancouver Island high school has been forced to stop using an electronic cellphone jamming device he bought online from China because its use is illegal in Canada.

CBC News reported that Steve Gray, the principal of Port Hardy Secondary School, had banned the use of cellphones in the school two years ago, but it was ineffective so he bought a device from China, plugged it in and it worked.

But according to the CBC report, irate students protested by refusing to return to class after lunch one day last week, claiming the device was illegal in Canada, and they were right. Gray had to disconnect it.

Notwithstanding the issue of the use of the ubiquitous cellphones in schools, my first thought was that the principal was attempting to use the influence of arbitrary power if the CBC report is correct. It says that Gray went online and bought the device from China, plugged it in, and it jammed cellphones in the school. There is no mention that the school board was involved. Furthermore, the story notes that the jamming device was illegal. To me, this smacks of "big brotherism" and should not be tolerated in Canadian society. It is my understanding that $115 of school funds was used to pay for the device -- meaning taxpayer dollars were spent on buying something that was illegal to use in Canada.

I hope the British Columbia Ministry of Education is taking a look at this one, and will direct all school districts to ensure that they obey the law, and are not accessing illegal devices from offshore locations to solve challenges within their schools.

The real challenge facing schools everywhere today is to come to grips with the changed realities of education in the 21st century. Granted it may be very difficult to make the quantum leap from a school system designed for the 19th century to the needs of today.

How about designing curriculum that embraces the cellphone as a total communications device, which is what it really is,. I will stop here for the moment but will have more to say on this one later. Right now at least at Port Hardy Secondary School, this round goes to the students who stood up to the power that was.

As always I welcome your comments. mj.morris@live.ca
LINK:
http://news.sympatico.msn.cbc.ca/abc/Local/BC/ContentPosting?isfa=1&feedname=CBC_LOCALNEWS&date=true&newsitemid=vancouver-bc-cellphone-jamming-highschool-port-alberni