How will the new school cellphone bans actually be enforced?

Backpack? Check. Water bottle? Check. Cellphone? It's complicated.

The start of school will look a little different for some students as several Canadian provinces have introduced cellphone bans for the 2024-2025 school year. The bans vary by jurisdiction but they all have a similar aim: to restrict cellphone use in classrooms to cut down on distractions and encourage safe social media use.

But as September nears, there's some confusion about the bans themselves, let alone how they will actually be enforced — and by whom.

"A lot of teachers welcome that there will be fewer distractions in the classroom, but many teachers are worried about the policing of it falling on them," Joel Westheimer, a professor of democracy and education at the University of Ottawa, told CBC News.

He cautions that many teachers are worried about the realities of enforcing rules on cellphone use which, he notes, is both pervasive and addictive. Studies have also shown that kids who spend hours a day on their phones scrolling through social media show more aggression, depression and anxiety.

Meanwhile, education experts and teachers have noted there are inconsistencies in how cellphone bans are enforced, and some teachers have said they're even concerned for their personal safety when they take a phone away. 

Others say cellphones are low on their list of worries about the public education system, and that banning them won't necessarily address the root causes of distraction and loneliness in students.

"There are much larger issues facing public education than cellphone use. Teachers need adequate resources to ensure no child goes without the support they need," the B.C. Teachers' Federation said in a Jan. 9 statement, right before the province announced its ban.

The cellphone bans vary by province, and within some provinces, by district.

In some provinces, like Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan, cellphones aren't permitted during class time for all K-12 students. Some provinces, like Ontario and Manitoba, have a tiered system for different grades. In Ontario for instance, K-6 students are required to keep phones on silent and out of sight all day, including non-class times like lunch and recess, and students in grades 7-12 are banned from using phones during class time unless teachers give them permission.

New Brunswick teachers are expected to "have students place their cellphones in a designated area of the classroom on silent mode." Students may also be subject to disciplinary action if they use cellphones to disrupt the learning environment (for example using them for bullying, cheating or plagiarism).

In Alberta, school divisions have until Jan. 1 to make their own policies and procedures, even though provincial standards will be in place as of September.

Jason Schilling, the head of the Alberta Teachers' Association, recently told the Canadian Press the policies' rollout this fall has some teachers confused about how they'll be expected to follow them.

"They are [going to be] confiscating phones that are very expensive, and they've got some hesitations about doing that without any kind of proper policies or rules and procedures put in place before they start doing this," Schilling said.