Kamloops high school teacher suspended for telling students cell phones can alter DNA

A Kamloops high school teacher who told students that cell phones could alter their DNA and cause birth defects in later life has been issued a five-day suspension.

According to an April 28 BC Commissioner of Teacher Regulation decision, Cinderella June Winter told students not to put their phones next to their “reproductive zones” as it could affect their ability to reproduce or have children.

The comment, along with a series of other incidents in 2023, got Winter in trouble with the regulator.

The decision said that while in her role as the school counsellor, two students came to see her about something that another student had done.

During the conversation, the student who had come along to support their friend also disclosed that they had been sexually assaulted by the student their friend had the issue with.

However, Winter “made the assumption” that this matter had already been reported and dealt with, and didn’t ask the student about the sexual assault.

“Winter also failed to report the sexual assault which (the) student had disclosed to her to a school administrator or to (the) student’s parent, as required by District policies,” the decision reads.

Winter offered to meet the student, who is Indigenous, in a restitution circle with her family.

“By failing to ask questions about the sexual assault (the) student disclosed, and by failing to report the disclosure, (the) student was harmed,” the Commissioner said on the decision. “In addition, Winter’s actions negatively impacted the community’s feeling of trust and safety in the education system, and did not contribute towards truth, reconciliation and healing.”

The Kamloops-Thompson school district temporarily removed her counselling position for six weeks.

Six months later, when acting as the teacher on call for a Grade 8 social studies class, Winter made the comment about cell phones altering the students’ DNA.

“If you don’t want to potentially be wiping your child’s bum for the rest of its life, you may want to think about making a habit of not keeping electronics in the ‘reproductive zone,’” Winter said.

The regulator said she’d used demeaning language to describe people with disabilities.

When a couple of students told her that phones didn’t have enough energy to do what she was saying, she told them that she had seen a popcorn kernel pop when placed between two cell phones.

However, Winter hadn’t seen this, she’d only seen a video of it.

When challenged on the issue, she replied, “You can take it or leave it.”

The decision said that at least one student found the comments “strange.”

The BC Teaching Commissioner said she presented information as fact-based on an unverified video.

During the same class, students told Winter they were allowed to play computer games once they’d done their work. Winter agreed, although there were 35 minutes of class time remaining, and she herself began using the internet.

Her searches for a wood-fired hot tub were projected onto the large screen “for the whole class to see.”

Winter began teaching in BC in 1997 and resigned from the school district in March 2025.

She later signed a consent agreement admitting to her conduct and accepted a five-day suspension of her teaching certificate.