Manitoba Government Joins Provinces in Regulating Cellphone Use in Schools

The Manitoba government is following other provinces in restricting the use of cellphones in classrooms beginning this school year.

There is to be a ban for students in kindergarten to Grade 8, while those in high school will be restricted from using their devices during class time but are free to use them during breaks and lunch.

The bans are designed to reduce distractions.

“We want young people to be able to focus in class so they can learn more and feel confident,” Education Minister Nello Altomare said in a release Thursday.

“These provincial guidelines will give teachers the tools they need to keep students focused and ensure class time is spent learning.”

Exemptions are to be made for medical or accessibility reasons, as well as for educational purposes in high schools when directed by teachers, the province said.

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The Opposition Progressive Conservatives called for a provincewide ban for elementary and middle schools last week, while some Manitoba school divisions already put in their own bans.

Manitoba’s francophone school division banned cellphones last year in all of its schools. Division scolaire franco-manitobaine is also taking steps to further restrict screen time by advising teachers to limit computer usage for elementary and middle school kids to no more than an hour a day in the classroom.

The Hanover School Division in southern Manitoba embarked on a pilot project with one of their schools last year to see if a ban would be effective. The division spoke with principals, the school board and parent councils and found they were in favour of a divisionwide policy change for kindergarten to Grade 8, which is set to begin this school year.

Saskatchewan announced its decision last week to prohibit the use of the devices for the 2024-25 school year, following Alberta, B.C., Quebec, Ontario and Nova Scotia.