Ontario will ban cellphones in elementary schools for the entire day, and during class time for middle and high school students, under new rules to start this September that are being touted as the toughest in Canada.
The changes announced Sunday, which include a crackdown on student vaping, will also force school boards to remove all access to social media websites from their networks, and report cards will be updated to include comments on students’ distraction levels.
Unless teachers want to use devices for learning, “when it comes to cellphones, our policy is ‘out of sight, out of mind,’ “Education Minister Stephen Lecce said at a North York school Sunday.
The move, first reported by the Star, will mean kids up to Grade 6 have to put their cellphones away and on silent mode when at school. Those in Grades 7 to 12 will only have access between classes and at lunch.
Exceptions can be made with the “explicit” permission by an educator for learning purposes, as well as for students with particular medical or custody situations, Lecce said, adding parents can alert their schools to any such concerns.
If caught with their phone without permission, the phones will have to be “immediately surrendered,” the province said, though Lecce noted it’ll be up to teachers and schools to decide on how the policy is enforced.
“We will respect the professional judgment of teachers of when technology is appropriate and of when it’s not appropriate,” he said.
The province is also cracking down on vaping and smoking, with new, mandatory reporting to parents if kids are caught using them on school property, as well as mandatory confiscation of any products. Lecce said the government also plans to put vape detectors in washrooms.
The changes will include training for teachers, new signage in schools, and support for kids and parents, including an awareness campaign, Lecce said.
“We need consistency. We need rigour in our schools. And we need to restore safety. Too many kids can’t focus because of the distractions in schools,” he said.
Lecce added that the new measures hopefully refocus student attention on academics like literacy and math while also combating student bullying, which he said is being worsened by cellphone and social media use.
“(The move) helps to protect the mental and physical health of every child,” he said.
In a statement following the announcement, the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) said it would “reserve judgment” on the government’s new policies until “it had an opportunity to review the full range of changes.” The teachers’ union, who said it brought up concerns surrounding cellphone use and vaping during recent bargaining, added it was “extremely disappointing” it wasn’t given an opportunity to review the revisions.
The move by the Ford government is bolstered by internal polling that shows a majority of Ontarians support bans on phones during the school day — and as jurisdictions around Canada and the world are setting stricter limits given concerns around kids’ mental health and well being and cyberbullying, as well as the addictive nature of such devices.
A CAMH study on youth, phone and social media found that 35 per cent of high school students spend five or more hours of their free time on electronic devices.
The changes will make Ontario the first province to have a ban on social media on school networks.
The new policy also comes after a series of lawsuits by Ontario school boards seeking $4.5 billion from TikTok, Snapchat and Meta (which owns Facebook and Instagram) accusing them of deliberately hurting students’ mental health and interfering with learning.
The allegations contained in the lawsuits launched by the school boards have not been tested in court, and the social media giants have previously told the Star they stand by their products.
Previous limits put on cellphone use announced in 2019 by the province lacked teeth and proved unenforceable.
“At the end of the day, we’re talking about behavioural and addiction issues in many cases,” Lecce said. “We need to approach these issues with compassion and a commitment to help students seek treatment for those that may need it.”
In jurisdictions around the world that have banned phones from schools, studies have indicated kids’ mental health improved as did their academic grades.
The Toronto District School Board — the largest in the country and among the largest boards in North America — is currently looking at a policy that can be enforced, as is the Toronto Catholic board. Currently in Ontario schools, phones can be used for learning, or by students with medical or special needs.
Cathy Abraham, president of the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association, has previously said that cellphones can be used for teaching purposes but “we should be setting reasonable limits.”
The provincial government has set aside $17.5 million to help combat addictive behaviours and to better inform parents and youth about the adverse effects of vaping and excessive cellphone distractions.
The recent provincial budget also pledged $30 million over three years for schools to use on things such as security cameras and vape detectors.
With files from Peter Edwards
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