Why Ontario is banning cell phones in classrooms for students

In the new school year, kids from kindergarteners to grade six who have cell phones have to keep them on silent and out of sight while on school property. Older students from Grade 7 to Grade 12, they can use their cell phone in between periods, but not in the classroom unless they have special permission granted. Also, come September, teachers will have the power to take a student’s cell phone, send them to the office, and also write down on that student’s report card just how distracted they have been with their cell phone. That is what this is all about, these new rules to get students less distracted, more focused on their learning. Here’s what students and their parents had to think about that. I don’t think they can take it away that easily because they’ve tried and like my brother’s school, but it still doesn’t work and they’ve already cut off some of the websites that the kids are not allowed on and some of the apps, So I think they shouldn’t ban it. I feel like the children, there’s certain points where it’s necessary. Cell phones can be like a conflict of interest when it comes to learning and like it gets in the way. We have seen cell phone bands before, but it used to be up to each individual school to make up rules that make sense for their student body. And that created inconsistent rules, inconsistent enforcement, enforcement, which became tricky and it’s going to be tricky. So say the teachers unions. Social media is a problem not just for students but for adults too. But you know, we’re coming down heavy-handed and I’m worried that we’re going to have more policing by teachers and less teaching when it comes to vaping. That is going to be an all out ban. Schools will have a 0 tolerance rule when it comes to vaping, whether it’s tobacco or cannabis. We’ve seen vaping kind of get out of control in schools in recent years, where students would try to vape in class or they would vape in the washroom and then schools would come up with their own framework of enforcement, some even taking the bathroom doors off of the bathroom. So it’s that kind of whack A mole situation that the province wants to avoid and coming up with strict rules that apply across all school boards when it comes to vaping and cell phone use. Ali Shiasan, CBC News, Toronto.