Cellphone ban coming to Manitoba schools this fall

Manitoba is officially banning the use of cellphones in classrooms starting this school year.

The province announced the ban Thursday afternoon, saying the goal is to help students stay attentive in school.

"We want young people to be able to focus in class so they can learn more and feel confident," said Education and Early Childhood Learning Minister Nello Altomare in a statement. "We know cellphones can be a real distraction for students – studies show it can take up to 20 minutes for a child to refocus on what they were learning once distracted."

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The new policies include a complete ban on cellphone use during school hours, including at lunch and during breaks, for students in kindergarten to Grade 8. Students in Grades 9 to 12 are banned from using cellphones during class time, but are allowed to use the phones during breaks and at lunch.

There will be exceptions to help students with medical and diverse learning needs, and cellphone use for education purposes in Grades 9-12 when directed by teachers.

Multiple provinces, including Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, have implemented cellphone bans in classrooms for the coming year.

Matt Henderson, the superintendent of the Winnipeg School Division, welcomed the news of the ban.

"There is significant peer-reviewed research which suggests that phones, and particularly the apps, have been detrimental to the development of children and their ability to play, their ability to grow as children," he said.

Henderson added that the cellphone ban is an opportunity to develop new plans to engage students in proper technology and Internet use.

"We don't necessarily say you can't, but we want to educate about why this is harmful to you," he said. "We don't want to make things punitive, but we want to make it educative, and that's what we do, that's what teachers do, and they're experts at that."

Henderson said WSD policies on cellphone use were previously made on a school-by-school basis.