Cell Phone BannedWagon

My perspective on this debate: The cell phone ban does not affect my professional life; however, I do have children in the K-12 system, so this cell phone ban bandwagon is of interest to me personally.

Cell phone “bannedwagon”.

Cell phone bans in schools are trending at the moment. Seven provinces implemented a cell phone policy in 2024, with Manitoba strengthening its existing policy. Most of the policies have a form of educational purposes as an exception, but from what I am hearing from teachers in these classrooms, this exception is not yet being used. The common rationale from the provinces for the ban is to decrease distraction and increase focus in the classroom. From what I can source, other support for these bans comes from the idea that cell phones in schools affect academic performance, are linked to mental health issues, increase disruptive classroom behaviours, and increase the digital divide. Empirical evidence from cell phone bans in France and the UK points to improved classroom behaviour, academic outcomes, and greater social interaction in schools.

These arguments appear to make sense and the results seem promising. If simply removing the offender from the situation improves all of the above, how easy it is to simply remove it from the equation? Let’s call this Side A.

Side A vs Side B

My mother taught me there are always two sides to an argument and ignoring the opposing view is a lost opportunity for growth. So, in this argument, what is the opposing view? Let’s call this Side B. I believe the YouTube video by Power User Podcast w/ Taylor Lorenz suggested in our Discord community (thank you @carolpreece ), presents a comprehensive list of reasons why policymakers, educators, and administrators need to take a second look at Side B.

In our modern digital world, we are confronted, or invited, to engage with digital technologies daily. And in all areas of our daily lives. Probably more than we realize. Our cell phones in particular serve as calendars, encyclopedias, cameras, links to community, maps, calculators, timers and reminders, books, contact lists, email, and weather channels, not to mention a myriad of productivity apps such as word processors, spreadsheets, AI interfaces, budgets, note takers, and translators. Just to name a few. This doesn’t even touch the educational applications that cell phones can be used for such as coding, gamification within lesson planning, star gazing guides, reading assistants etc, etc. The applications are endless. Removing the cell phone from the classroom removes the opportunities for our kids to learn how to use and manage these amazing resources.

Back to our argument. If one side is required to “win”, the other side has to “lose”. Both sides argue their pros and cons. If side A wins, then the cons of side A still exist and the pros of side B will be lost. Like many things in life, we weigh the pros and cons and decide which is the best option.  By choosing Side A, as 7 of our provinces clearly have, the policymakers are saying that they are willing to compromise all of the benefits of Side B, to remove distractions, the effects on academic performance and mental health issues, and decrease disruptive classroom behaviours and the digital divide. Not to diminish the importance of these points; this is a very complex debate that cannot be thoroughly explored in one blog post.

Boundaries not Bans

What if neither side wins? Let’s take another look at each of the arguments in favour of the bans. I wonder, can we keep the benefits of using cell phones as educational tools, while addressing the other unwanted side effects of cell phone use? Moreover, I’ve seen arguments that conflate cell phone use with social media use. This leads me to question the evidence behind Side A. At the extreme end of the spectrum, social media and cell phone use can be mutually exclusive. And I believe they each deserve their own arguments.

This leads me to ask the question: Is it possible to create boundaries around cell phone use in the classroom, rather than implement a full-on ban?

A key point of discussion that was brought up by Brandon Cardet-Hernandez, in the YouTube video is that he believes placing the cell phone at the centre of the problems shifts accountability away from the adults in the kids’ lives. He believes that the focus should be on creating norms around the use of and learning boundaries of, technology. Teaching healthy digital literacy. As previously mentioned, adults are learning how to use technology in every way in their lives. Keeping this away from kids means they will not learn how to use the technology to their advantage. The question “How are the kids going to learn how to use technology, if not in the classroom?” was mentioned in our class break-out discussion as a point of concern. As you will see in this short clip taken from the YouTube video, Brandon provides a counter-argument to concern about the digital divide.

Brandon asserts, that it is not a cell phone problem, but an issue with curriculum, teaching methods, and other pedagogies not keeping up with the times. This CBC article from October 2024, one month or so into the ban,  shows very interesting mixed reviews from students and staff.  Maclean’s published a long, and comprehensive article that explains the different approaches being taken by school staff and the results a couple of months into the ban. The bottom line for support of the ban is that students have a problem with self-regulation. Recognizing that a resolution to this problem is in flux, and the solution that works today won’t necessarily work tomorrow, a second question comes to mind: What is the adult role in supporting a young person’s digital skill development?

I do agree with Brandon Cardet-Hernandez that, in general, adults need to learn how to teach the kids how to use these tools, and also learn how to teach using these tools. These policies highlight an unwillingness to do this hard work. Technology isn’t going away and ignoring it is not the solution. Knowing how to manage device use is a modern life skill and I am certain these bans will reveal some unintended consequences.