Police respond to bomb threat at University of Waterloo
A University of Waterloo sign is shown in Waterloo, Ont., on June 28, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nick Iwanyshyn
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CTV News
15 minutes ago
- CTV News
‘General acceptance': A year of banning cellphones in Canadian classrooms
A 12-year-old boy plays with his personal phone outside school in Barcelona, Spain, on June 17, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Emilio Morenatti EDMONTON — Sixteen-year-old Roha Akram was skeptical when teachers in Calgary announced a cellphone ban during the first assembly of the school year. 'I was like, 'No one's going to follow this,'' the Grade 11 student recalled of the change in September. 'It's just the nature of teenagers. We don't like rules.' Teachers didn't want to see phones on desks or in pockets, Akram added. 'They wanted it in the backpack, in the locker, in the car.' She said the ban has been good for some students, who just need a reminder to focus in class, particularly when teachers are speaking. But some have struggled. One teacher took a phone away from a boy who was really attached to his device, she said. 'He started acting crazy. He went around asking everyone, 'Can I use your phone? Can I use your phone? I need to go on Instagram.' 'I saw phones are kind of becoming an addiction.' As the school year wraps up this month, education ministries across Canada say there have been overall positive results from banning cellphones. They say it has taught students not to develop unhealthy attachments to their phones and to focus on lessons in the classroom. Last fall, most provinces introduced policies to limit cellphone use in schools, similar to jurisdictions in other countries. Before the ban in Manitoba, Education Minister Tracy Schmidt said a school librarian complained to her that students were too quiet sitting around the stacks of books. 'The students would come in groups, sit down at a table together, pull out their cellphones and they would all sit there. You could hear a pin drop,' said Schmidt. The cellphone ban has returned the chatter and socialization among students, she said. 'They still come with their groups of friends, but now they're sitting, they're talking, they're laughing. They might pick up a board game. (The librarian) was really, really grateful to the province for taking this step.' Ontario's education ministry said parents and teachers find the ban has created a better learning environment. 'As we close out the first full year of implementation, we will continue gathering input to understand how the policy has worked in practice, where it has been effective, and where further support may be needed,' said spokesperson Emma Testani. In Nova Scotia, school staff were surprised by how smoothly it was to implement the new directive, said education spokesperson Alex Burke. 'While not all students like leaving their devices out of the classroom, there is a general acceptance of the benefit of limiting cellphone use and appreciation of the opportunity to ignore their phones,' said Burke. The Edmonton Public School Board, Alberta's largest school division, said it didn't notice any significant issues. 'Schools had the flexibility to determine how best to implement the ban, whether it meant introducing new practices or adjusting current ones,' said spokesperson Kim Smith. A year of the ban doesn't mean students aren't still using phones in class, admitted Akram. Some have just become more sneaky. One fellow student used a textbook to hide his phone while teachers were talking, she said. 'He just watches YouTube Shorts the whole class.' Akram said she also occasionally uses her phone during work time in class — her AirPods in her ears, under her hijab — so she can listen to music. When teachers do confiscate phones, they're typically returned at the end of class or the school day, she added. Akram said she can see why the ban might be necessary for generation Z and students with unhealthy attachments to their phones. 'We were born when people were inventing iPads and iPhones ... so we grew up with screens.' She said she thinks teachers will be stricter with the ban next year. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 9, 2025. Fakiha Baig, The Canadian Press
CBC
15 minutes ago
- CBC
New Christian school in central Newfoundland teaching alternate curriculum based on Bible
It's always busy at Rachel Mullett's house in Gander. With four children under age five, play time is all the time. The dynamic will change in September, though, when five-year-old Hudson goes off to kindergarten. He'll be one of the first students at the brand-new Crossroads Academy. "I'm looking forward to knowing what my book looks like and my pencil. I most like doing everything. Everything's just so exciting," he said. His new school is based at the local Pentecostal church, but it doesn't follow the same curriculum as the province's public schools. It uses an education program called Abeka, which comes from the United States and teaches based on a literal interpretation of the Bible. That means the school's students are taught the earth is 6,000 years old, it was created by God in six days and humans lived at the same time as dinosaurs. "The Abeka science and health program presents the universe as the direct, orderly, law-abiding creation of God and refutes the man-made idea of evolution," states the program's website. "Students are presented with plants, animals, rocks, elements, forces, the human body — and much more — according to an understanding of the design and laws of nature." The health program takes its teachings on homosexuality and adultery literally from the Bible as well. "Dr. Hugh Pyle discusses adultery, fornication, and homosexuality as they are presented in the Bible and explains their results," says a summary of Abeka's sexual education textbook Sex, Love, and Romance: Sex education from the Bible. "The book also details God's plan concerning purity and marriage and the consequences of disobeying his moral commands in these areas." Angela Hodder, one of the founders of the Crossroads Academy, says it has proven to be a curriculum that's entirely biblical based. "Even the math. If you look at the math book, it ties in biblical concepts. It teaches the children all the concepts they need to know, but it ties in that Christian part of it. The biblical aspect of it," said Hodder. She said they want parents to have "another option." "People don't always want to maybe send their children to a public school," she said. "With the class sizes and different other things." So far, only six students are registered for the coming year, but the new school is accepting kids from kindergarten to Grade 6. Tuition is $5,400 per year, and the organizers are hoping to expand the school to include students up to high school. But it's not clear what that would mean for the students at Crossroads. The provincial government says all schools must meet the same educational standards in order for students to graduate. If they don't, they won't receive an official diploma. The Education Department specifies that students who complete Grades 10 to 12 under the Abeka system won't qualify. For Mullett — who was raised in Ontario's Christian schools — both the curriculum and the cost of sending four kids to the school makes sense. "I don't think that science and faith conflict each other at all," she said. "Everyone sees the world through a lens and so the way we see the world is through a Christian lens. And I think science and God can actually complement each other very well. So we will be teaching science while looking for God throughout everything we're teaching them in the scientific field."
CTV News
23 minutes ago
- CTV News
ADVERTISEMENT Ottawa Watch Duck and Run We talk about wetland conservation and how you can get involved in the Duck and Run fundraising race
Ottawa Watch We talk about wetland conservation and how you can get involved in the Duck and Run fundraising race
