Vancouver – The notion of forbidding students from using their mobile phones in classrooms unreservedly is very popular in British Columbia, a new Research Co. poll has found.
In the online survey of a representative provincial sample, 88% of British Columbians think the province should implement a ban on the use of mobile phones during instructional time in K-12 classrooms.
Earlier this year, the Province of Ontario restricted the use of mobile phones in K-12 classrooms, unless the devices are required for health or medical purposes, or to support educational needs as decided by an instructor.
In British Columbia, residents aged 55 and over are more likely to express support for a prohibition (85%) than those aged 35-to-54 (80%) and those aged 18-to-34 (68%).
At least four-in-five residents of Vancouver Island (86%), the Fraser Valley (83%) and Metro Vancouver (80%) are in favour of banning mobile phones during instructional time in K-12 classrooms. Support is lower, but still high, in Northern BC (75%) and Southern BC (62%).
“More than four-in-five British Columbians who have a child currently enrolled in K-12 are supportive of a classroom mobile phone ban (81%),” says Mario Canseco, President of Research Co. “The proportion is similar (77%) for those who have no children in school at this point.”
Methodology:
Results are based on an online study conducted from November 6 to November 8, 2019, among 800 adults in British Columbia. The data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region in British Columbia. The margin of error—which measures sample variability—is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Find full data set here.
