Student to school: Don’t hold the phone

Cease-and-desist letter challenges policy on seizures

SAGUENAY, Que. — A Quebec teen thinks his school’s policy of seizing smartphones belonging to students caught using them in class goes too far.

Vincent Duguay, 15, challenged his school’s cellphone policy with a cease-and-desist letter sent to the local school board this week.

His legal letter says it’s unconstitutional for a school to create a policy that allows a student’s phone to be seized for 24 hours.

The board in the SaguenayLac-Saint-Jean region confirmed Friday the letter was handdelivered by the teen on Wednesday.

Duguay has never had his own phone confiscated and his father, Benoît, told Radio-Canada’s Saguenay station he doesn’t have an issue with them being forbidden in the classroom.

Rather, Benoît Duguay said the punishment of taking smartphones away for an extended period isn’t reasonable.

“There shouldn’t be a prejudice against the kids if they’re caught,” he said.

In one case, Benoît Duguay said one of his son’s friends was fired from his job because he was unreachable after he had his phone taken away by the school.

There are also security concerns attached to the confiscation if students don’t have access to their devices.

Benoît Duguay said there’s no legal action forthcoming, but that they’d just like to see the situation corrected.

His son is a student at Charles-Gravel High School, one of four in the region.

Claudie Fortin, a spokeswoman for the Rives-duSaguenay school board, said each school establishes its own rules in different areas, including cellphone use.

Fortin said the letter is in the hands of the board’s lawyers.