St. Matthew Catholic School in Rocky Mountain House is cracking down on distracting smartphone use even harder for the start of the 2025/26 school year.

For this year, use of cellphones is prohibited throughout the day — including at break times — with students asked to leave devices at home or in their lockers.

Principal Teresa Johnson says the move builds on new standards introduced last year.

“Before, students weren’t allowed to really use [smartphones] either, but they would keep them in their pockets,” she explains. “We’ve just tightened up and asked them to keep [smartphones] in their locker.”

Students can bring their phones into the building for use after school if they choose, she says, but during school hours, devices must be “off and away.”

Principal Teresa Johnson speaking about St. Matthew Catholic School’s cellphone policy for the 2025/26 year.

She adds, educators at the school have noticed how much of a distraction the devices can be, and the new move has been introduced with the intention of better overall student support.

While the school year is still early, Johnson says they’ll be rolling out the new rules gradually, with exceptions made for students with health requirements such as diabetes monitoring.

Starting at the beginning of the 2024/25 school year, the provincial government rolled out new rules generally prohibiting use of devices during classroom learning time, but left the door open for school divisions to come up with their own rules.

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The new rules are a made-in-St. Matt’s initiative, as Johnson says restrictions still vary between Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools (RDCRS), and she couldn’t speak to what other schools are doing.

A 2024 statement from RDCRS Associate Superintendent of Curriculum, Ryan Sawula, confirmed that schools would have latitude to set their own rules.

“Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools currently has a cell phone administrative procedure in place,” said Sawula.

“This current procedure provides schools with the flexibility to incorporate into their school code of conduct the appropriate use of digital media, computer technology, personally owned devices, and internet services. There is variation between schools, however, schools aim to minimize distractions and maintain a focused learning environment.”

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According to a 2024 Alberta Government survey of parents and school stakeholders, among some 68,000 responses, almost 90 per cent of respondents shared concern over student cellphone use at school.