Clarity lacking on new cell rules in Ontario schools: critics

New rules that ban the use of cellphones in class are taking effect at schools across Ontario this week, but critics say they're unsure how the regulations will be enforced or how effective they will be.

In April, the Ontario government announced a plan to standardize measures on cellphone use in classrooms, saying it wanted to remove distractions from learning time.

While the province had already put in certain restrictions on cellphones in 2019, the new rules set more specific guidelines that are broken down by grade.

Starting this week, students in kindergarten to Grade 6 must keep cellphones on silent and out of sight for the entire school day. For students in Grade 7 to Grade 12, cellphones cannot be used during class time. The province has said cellphones may only be used if permitted by an educator, or if students have special education or medical needs.

While the overall aim of reducing distractions is welcome, teachers' unions say they need clarity on how the rules should be enforced and support for educators that have to implement them.

"Principals don't know what it means. School boards are kind of all over the place," said Rene Jansen in de Wal, president of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association. "I have teachers calling me who are just beside themselves."

Teachers are unclear on what happens if they confiscate a phone and it gets damaged or stolen in the process, or what staff should do if a student reacts violently to their phone being taken away, he said.

The government has said that students who don't abide by the rules will be asked to put their phones in a safe space in the classroom. If they don't comply, they'll be asked to go to the principal's office.

David Mastin, first vice-president of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario, said there are questions about how effective the rules will be.

"The principal will deal with them, and then what happens five minutes later is that child returns to class ... these are the things that are on the ground that we don't yet have answers on," he said.

Karen Littlewood, president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation, said she's concerned about the burden on teachers.

"A lot is expected of teachers right now," she said.

Education Minister Jill Dunlop, who stepped into the role just weeks ago, said the government has set minimum standards with the new rules and "will support educators and principals in the actions that they take."

This is a culture change that's happening in our classrooms," Dunlop said during a news conference last week. "I was an educator as well, in the college area, but I saw firsthand the distraction that cellphones can cause in the classroom."