Crackdown on phones in class is welcome

Distracting, disruptive and addictive. And now the Ontario government is taking action to crack down.

We’re talking, of course, about cellphones in the classroom. They’ve become the bane of many educators, who are often left fighting for the attention of students too busy texting and scrolling or lost in social media.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce on Sunday announced tough restrictions on cellphones in schools that will take effect in September. It’s a welcome move and one that must be tried, given the research that points to the disruptive impact of cellphones on learning in class and worrisome impacts of social media on mental health.

A 2022 study found that students who did without smartphones in class had “higher levels of course comprehension, lower levels of anxiety, and higher levels of mindfulness.” A UNESCO report last year signalled the need for limits on technology in the classroom. “Only technology that has a clear role in supporting learning should be allowed in school,” it stated.

A 2021 Centre for Addiction and Mental Health survey on student health found that 31 per cent of students in Grades 7-12 spend almost five hours a day on social media, that almost one-third said they had been cyberbullied in the past year and about 18 per cent reported symptoms that suggest a moderate-to-severe problem with technology. Those results were taken during the pandemic lockdown which likely influenced the findings. Still, the collective research highlights the need for measures that ensure a break from screen time for focused learning.

Still, it’s not likely to be easy. Experiences in other jurisdictions where bans have been enacted and then reversed under pressure from parents and students alike offer a cautionary tale for Ontario. And the reality that technology is so enmeshed in our everyday lives raises the question whether such crackdowns are even workable.

Under Ontario’s plan, cellphones will be banned — on silent mode and out of sight — in elementary schools for the entire day, and during class time for middle and high school students. For older students, it restricts screen time during class yet allows them to get caught up during breaks. Such limits are reasonable.

The success of Ontario’s initiative will depend on the logistics of its implementation. And there are many considerations.

Some parent will fret how they will contact their child in case of a family emergency. In the event of a crisis, there’s also the old school method, so to speak, of simply calling the office and having a message relayed to the classroom.

Other issues include accommodations for those students who rely on smartphone apps for translation as they learn English or to assist with their learning in other ways. There’s the question of how costly smartphones can be safely stored when they are confiscated. No doubt teachers will wonder if they are liable if a seized smartphone gets damaged. What about discipline for students who defy the ban?

These issues and others need to be worked out. But none seem insurmountable. The province says the rules will permit exceptions with the permission of a teacher for learning considerations as well as compelling personal circumstances, such as medical or family situations. It’s important that educators have some flexibility.

And the broader potential benefits of a smartphone clampdown speaks to the imperative to move forward now and not let such questions delay implementation.

The Toronto District School Board was already moving in this direction. Earlier this year, the board voted to consider a revised cellphone policy to give teacher explicit instruction on how to curtail phone use in class. It was meant to replace an existing policy criticized as vague and difficult to enforce. As TDSB chair Rachel Chernos Lin made clear at the time, further restrictions were warranted, citing the “significant disruption” cellphones have on learning and the impact of social media on teen mental health.

Lecce says the thinking of the new policy is that cellphones should be “out of sight, out of mind.” There are many good motivations to make it work.